


These Small Hours Still Remain

by Mogoona3000



Series: White Clouds [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst too because..well..It's Tony and Peter duh, F/M, Fluff. Fluff any chance we get we gon get fluff y'all, Gen, Iron fam rights, Irondad & Spiderson, Pepper Potts rules all, Pepperony - Freeform, Pepperony...everywhere, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker gets all the hugs, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Plot What Plot, Precious Peter Parker, There are some concepts from The Amazing Spider-Man in this, Tony Stark Centric, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark POV, Tony Stark and Peter Parker fluff, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, Tony Stark is doing his best, so yeah that happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2020-12-09 09:56:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 169,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20992907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mogoona3000/pseuds/Mogoona3000
Summary: Slowly but surely, Tony's life is nothing but a product of occurrences taking place around him, for him, to him.But for the first time, he chooses what changes, when it changes and how it changes.He chooses Peter.These are the occurrences that dance around this new relationship. This is how choosing to raise Peter unfolds.—UPDATE:Sequel is being edited and first half of it should be posted soon! Be on the look out!





	1. 2:00AM

**Author's Note:**

> Oh man, you guys. Hi. 
> 
> What a trip awaits you when you begin this.  
I know if you do read it, you'll appreciate it as much as I love the way this turned out. 
> 
> A few things before you start: 
> 
> *I want to dedicate this whole mush of words to Denni (@yellowdistress) & Bethany (@tempestaurora) —one of the most talented authors I’ve had the pleasure to get acquainted with in this here, Irondad fandom.
> 
> Because Denni, who I just adore, always leaves me with a wind of inspiration after I read her marvelous work, reminding me to write what I want to see and to do it unapologetically.
> 
> And to Bethany, that witty girl I am so genuinely fond of too, who reminds me that Tony Stark knows what’s important; he knows what’s the most important, that I can write fanfiction and also continue to write my own original work. And that I can dedicate my stories to whomever I want. 
> 
> *no beta, so forbearance, my lords. 
> 
> *This is another Bio Irondad event, just in case you missed it on the tags. If you're looking for some well, thought-out plot, this isn't really the one for ya lol. A bunch of events that take place througout Tony's life with tons of cute father-son moments
> 
> *This is a four-part series. All drafts have been completed. It’s just a matter of tidying them up to post for you guys to make sense of them :)))))))))))))))))
> 
> *I will be posting the chapters as often as time allows me to. Towards the end, they get lengthier and editing can take its time but rest assure they will be posted. Patience with me please! 
> 
> *Let me interact with you! Let us freak out or fangirl together or be friends on the comment section! Or my tumblr--@mogoona3000! I am always up for screaming about Irondad and Spiderson and everything in between *shrugs*
> 
> *Pepper Potts is a queen. We love her. 
> 
> *Team Irondad, sis. 3000.
> 
> Enjoy.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a gift; it comes with a price.

“Tony.”

“_What_?” He doesn’t mean to snap but his head is splitting in two and nausea has made an entrance.

He hears Pepper’s impatience on the other line, the long exhale of a frustrated breath confirming she’s just about done with him.

“Mary’s will doesn’t obligate you to take care of him. If you surrender your rights, the state will take care of the rest. I need you to decide what to do so that I know what to tell Nick.”

"Nick?"

"Your lawyer."

"Right."

Tony remains still on his bed, his call on speakerphone while his phone lays on top of his stomach as he covers his face with his palms in plain, silent panic.

Because he remembers Mary Parker at The New York Academy of Sciences gala a few months ago—almost ten months ago to be exact. Curtis Connors was in attendance too and Tony thought they had arrived together until Connors' wife returned from the bathroom and cleared Tony's path to approach Mary. 

And so he did when she was by the bar and found out she was a widow and without escort that night. Obadiah hadn't been too thrilled to find out Tony and Mary had eventually made it back to Tony's hotel room, Mary being one of Oscorp's finest employees, the long-time rival of Stark Industries. Later that night, when he got better acquainted with Mary, Tony understood Obie's concern because Mary and Tony connected instantly before anything even happened between them. But they both knew that night they were about to embark on together was to be just that: one night. 

Mary was one of the brightest women he had ever been with. Maybe he might've wanted to pursue something more with her as he watched her get dressed while he laid on the bed the next morning, the small smile on her lips as she looked at him while putting her hair up told him that “more” was not an option.

"Don't look at me like that," she said as if she was reading his mind while sliding into her black pencil dress without struggle. Tony was laying with the covers up to his waist, no real rush to get out of the room, twisting his hair in his fingers as he watched her gather the rest of her things from the floor.

"Like what?"

"Like the night isn't over," she responded while holding on by the foot of the bed as she slid her shoes on. She stood back up once she was finished and smirked his way, adjusting her dress to comfort. "It was..nice to meet you, Mr. Stark."

"A pleasure, Ms. Parker." Because who was he kidding? He might’ve liked her, and even if he decided to want something a lot more solid with her, he was reminded that Romeo and Juliet ended up dead at the end of the play. He didn't want to die just yet. 

Besides, it's not like he _loved_ her, and maybe if she wasn’t thinking that all Tony wanted were Oscorp secrets, he would’ve done something about it. 

She had rolled her hazel eyes at his words at the time, her gaze full of mirth, full of something Tony hadn't seen ever again until he met and got to know Pepper. Mary proceeded to move over to the bed as Tony sat up and leaned in close enough that their noses touched.

"The _pleasure.._was all mine."

He remembers how she whispered it, how she didn't kiss him or let him do it. She stood back up and started walking towards the door as Tony sat there, watching her go as mesmerized as he's ever remembered being. She stopped at the door when she opened it and turned around one last time before stepping out. "I strongly advise against missing me. It won't lead to anything promising." It felt like a warning, and then she was gone.

If she only knew how much he misses her right this moment; she should be alive and taking care of her kid. Between her and Tony, she’s undoubtedly the best candidate to do a decent job at raising another really small human being. _ Their _reallysmall human being. 

He didn’t even know Mary was expecting. He never followed up after that night, never looked her up. She had disappeared after Connors died and Tony knew if he tried hard enough, he would find her. But he didn't, taking her word that night at face value now. So he moved on as recommended; he's always been able to do that well, even if his methods in doing so aren't entirely healthy. All Tony is sure about is that he spent _one night_ with her. Then _one night_ nine months later, he gets a call when he’s in New York for business. _One night_, he has a doctor on the other line of that call telling him that Mary Parker passed away _ while giving birth to a child_. All in _one night_. 

As much as he's on the verge of a mental breakdown, it doesn't surprise Tony this is happening as much as it scares him because everything happens so sudden, without warning in his life. It always demands things from him he doesn’t even know he has until he has to give them up. So before he has a conniption, he sends Pepper to Queens the next morning after that phone call, a beautiful August 10th with the sky filled with clouds. He has to send Pepper because he knows regardless of the sky’s need to make this an easier situation, he won't be able to deal with any of it, not with Mary dead and not with a kid in the tragic aftermath of her passing. 

A kid that's _his_. 

“No husband, right?” He knows it's a giant leap but it doesn't hurt to ask.

“Widowed. He worked for the CIA. He died on the field,” Pepper answers, ever so efficient. 

Tony keeps asking for relatives, trying to find someone more suitable to handle this even though he knows it's a dead end. Pepper confirms his attempts are futile with her answers, and his panic rises. 

Everyone on Mary's will that could take care of this is no longer alive; Tony's breathing shortens and he’s definitely going to throw up. The room spins when he tries to open his eyes and sit up from his bed. He was supposed to be heading to Dubai in two hours. This wasn’t part of the _ plan. _

“If you surrender your rights, you have to sign the paperwork. Meaning, you have to be here.”

Mary's kid—his kid—out in the world without a single knowledge of his heritage, without knowing that his mother had long, dark hair and a mind that might’ve rivaled Tony's, never hearing about her smile and her witty ways to make conversation. This poor kid caught in the middle of this disaster is now trying to be placed under Tony's care. The luck on this child cannot get any worse.

But Tony can’t take care of a _ kid_. There are a lot of things he can go along with, but this one he isn’t sure he can handle. This is a perpetual life-changing event. This one will never go away. How is he supposed to raise a _ child_? This isn’t right—

“Tony,” Pepper calls one more time from the other line. 

A kid. Mary’s kid. _ His _ kid. 

“I’m on my way.”

Tony is grateful for the accommodations the staff provided for them, setting them up in the quietest place in the hospital to prevent prying eyes and paparazzi from disturbing. Tony and Pepper sit quietly across the nurse station, the only nurse that sits there filing away, paying them no mind. They wait for the kid—his son—to be brought out after Tony signed the release forms, even after his doubts and fears attempted to make him resign the baby to the state to take care of. He couldn't do it. It’s his kid and even if he wasn’t, he was _Mary’s_. The guilt wouldn't have let him survive long. 

Pepper tried to "talk some sense" into him because they both know that this wasn't supposed to be a reality. The possibilities, yes because it's Tony Stark, but having it become a real thing is a whole different ball game. Raising a kid was never in the cards, let alone Tony being a single parent while doing so. And so, after Pepper questions him enough to have his self-doubt be the only thing that makes sense in his head when he tries to reason with the feeling of inadequacy that takes over, they sit and wait in silence. Tony's right fist holds the right side of his face, his elbow resting on the armchair as he slouches against his seat, exhausted from all the panics and the side effects they bring as he continues looking up at Pepper. He watches her until she notices him doing so. They share a look between each other, Tony's gaze not faltering when they lock eyes, and he can see the worry and concern behind her very blue sight doing something inside of him he cannot decipher at the moment. She releases a breath and quietly turns to stare straight ahead again. 

“What is it?” 

She sits with her back straight in her seat, her feet neatly crossed at her ankles and her delicate hands perfectly placed against her knees. Pepper Potts, the perfect picture of elegance and humility all in one. All she does is give a small shake of her head in response to his question.

“Come on, what is it?” Tony quietly demands one more time, trying to keep his frustration out of his voice as he sits up.

Pepper, stoic as ever, shakes her head again. 

“I can _do_ this.”

It’s sudden and impulsive when he says it, almost sounding as if he’s challenging whoever is listening to prove otherwise. He has no idea where the confidence comes from but apparently it’s all he has on his side. Pepper’s head snaps in his direction and her slight shock bothers him a bit, but he understands her reaction. He can barely remember to eat at times, so if he's being honest, he knows that whatever she’s thinking Tony is feeling the same way right about now. Either way, it doesn’t matter. He’s going to do this and all doubt and fear will have to subside. 

He sits straight then, angling his body so that he's giving her his full attention. His mind is made up but before he can continue speaking, Pepper's hushed voice beats him to it and tells him that this isn’t some robot or project Obadiah wants him to concoct. 

“It’s a _ life_, Tony.”

“I _ know _that.”

She shakes her head at him one more time and then turns her head away, staring straight ahead again.

“I’ll figure it out, Pep.”

“You mean _ I’ll _figure it out.”

“Not this time,” he quietly assures her. The conviction behind his words still startle him just like they keep striking Pepper with an expression other than exasperation, so he’ll take it. “I can do this.”

Before Pepper can respond, two nurses and one of Tony's lawyers appear to be making their way to them, one of the nurses with what looks like a very small bundle of blankets cradled in her arms. 

All of a sudden his hands begin to sweat and his nausea makes a strong comeback. Pepper, standing by his side, remains silent. Tony knows his lawyer is speaking and later he finds out through Pepper that the baby is allowed to be in his custody until the paternity test results come back. He is only able to do this because it was Mary's wish that if the successors in her will were not able to take care of her son, he would go to Tony. He is glad Pepper is there to capture all of it because Tony can’t focus, not with the way the baby sleeps so peacefully in front of him. When the nurse asks him if he wants to hold him, Tony can’t seem to stop staring long enough to answer. 

“Mr. Stark,” Pepper quietly calls with a small nudge to his arm. 

“What—yeah, I—my hands are—should I wash them?” he sputters. “I—Jesus,” he breathes out, “are babies really this small?”

The nurse that holds the baby—his baby—gives Tony a small smile. It feels patient and Tony appreciates it more than he can express at the moment, while the other nurse reaches into her pockets and pulls out a small bottle of hand sanitizer, pouring a couple of drops on his palms as he stretches out his hands. The cool of it against his skin subtly brings him back to the room and then the kid—his _ son_—is about to be placed in his arms. It feels as if his heart is in his throat trying to choke him, and the panic is making his head spin again. But then..then the baby stretches his tiny arms out and makes the daintiest sound as he yawns against the nurse that holds him. His head is full of hair, dark like Tony's, dark like Mary's, and Tony is sure his porcelain skin is the softest he will ever touch. In a state of shock, he realizes something so pure should be protected. At all costs. 

“She wanted to name him Peter,” the nurse tells him as she gently places the baby in his arms, aiding Tony on how to hold him.

Peter. There is no nausea. All the rooms are still. The headaches are gone at the touch.

_ Peter_.

—

Two weeks later, after Tony makes sure Mary's funeral was properly arranged and his donation to the hospital was cleared, it is confirmed Peter J. Stark is Tony Stark's biological son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary from Florence + The Machine's Rabbit Heart 
> 
> Ahhh, thank you so much for reading!  
Talk to me in the comments :) 
> 
> Next chapter shall be up Thursday! Till then, 
> 
> Go be happy.


	2. Reborn for Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> -Here I am, a rabbit hearted girl  
frozen in the headlights;  
It seems I've made the final sacrifice-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ello, govnas!  
It is Thursday, and here we are as promised. 
> 
> Enjoy<3000

If Tony had doubts regarding Pepper Potts’ unparalleled loyalty to him, they are nonexistent once Peter enters their lives. Tony doesn't know what it is about Pepper that has him out of sorts: is it her heart, or her efficiency, to have the solution to all intricacies they come across, all the while doing all of this so unfathomably beautiful, so humble. Maybe it’s the freckles that rest underneath her eyes, right on her cheeks, or her smirk when she doesn’t give Tony the satisfaction of retaliating when he’s trying to push her buttons.

He doesn’t want to explore because yet again, it's too much at stake and he doesn't want to lose the best, most capable and honest ally since Rhodey. And the guy Harold Hogan he hired a month ago, who has already shown Tony he's in it for the long haul after getting him out of that car crash a few weeks back. Besides, Tony has a baby and baggage, and he's arrogant and narcissistic, and a playboy who can't commit to anything but drugs and alcohol and money—tabloids don't lie. Blah blah fricking blah.

Either way, Pepper Potts holds a place in his heart no one has ever resided in. Maybe it was the place Mary could’ve held had they led different lives.

The reality remains that when Pepper’s interacting with Peter like she is now, right before she goes home for the day, Tony can’t help the unusual feeling in his chest at the sight. Sometimes he has to walk away, and at times he stares just like he is now while she is done feeding him, or changing him, or playing with him. Because every day before she goes home after dealing with one exasperating Tony Stark, she asks if she can spend time with Peter and Tony, each time she asks, tells her she doesn't have to ask for permission.

And it dawns on Tony as he's eating his blueberries and pretending to be going over schematics on his computer, that maybe it's not the freckles, or her intelligence, or her humility and beauty. Maybe it's just that Pepper Potts loves Peter J. Stark. 

Or, that is just another major thing to add to the list of things Pepper Potts Does that Makes Tony Stark Lose Sleep At Night. So today, like most times she's with Peter, Tony stares. And today, like most times, she catches him doing so. Neither of them address it whenever it happens but their eyes don't divert from each other. Just like every other time before this. Tony doesn't know if she's aware of all the things that are being left unsaid on his part, but he doesn't voice them either way. Just like every other time this happens. And then, just like every other time before this one, Pepper gives Peter a kiss on the cheek and gives him back to Tony. 

“Will that be all, Mr. Stark?” she asks, her voice soft and filled with something other than her assistance as Tony turns around in his chair and carefully takes Peter from her. The kid lays against him, already half asleep. 

“That will be all, Ms. Potts,” Tony responds in the same tone as he looks up at her from his seat. 

And they stare. And then she gives way to a small side grin Tony returns. And then she gently caresses Peter’s back as he’s sound asleep against Tony. And then she’s out of the shop. 

—

Every time Peter turns a month older, Pepper gifts Tony a picture of them she either captures herself or has JARVIS take upon her request in case she's absent. She frames every single one of them, simple and thoughtful every tenth of every month. The fourth picture with Peter laughing up at Tony as he’s laying on Tony’s lap while playing peek-a-boo was duplicated. One is on his desk in the lab and the other one is with the rest, all hanging by the wall above the fireplace.

Tony always looks up at them when his mind tries to play tricks and wants to blame him for Peter catching a cold, or an ear infection, or even the hiccups. The one of Rhodey on the couch with Peter sound asleep on his chest, both their mouths opened as they sleep and Tony with paperwork across his chest while also fast asleep is a crowd favorite. It also helps Tony remember he’s not alone in raising Peter, even if he’s a single parent.

Nothing tops the one of Tony laying down on the couch with a seven-month-old Peter asleep on his chest. It’s as vulnerable as he’s ever found himself and it comes across the frame.

Tony has JARVIS scan and save the pictures on a file. Pepper does this until Peter turns one. 

—

Peter’s first time eating chocolate is on his second birthday. Pepper teaches him about the blowing of the candle as best as she can, and Peter picks up quickly. When Pepper gives him a bit of the chocolate cake off her plate to taste, he freezes as his eyes open twice their size. He looks to her and then back to Tony who stands across the kitchen island, recording the reaction to chocolate on Rhodey’s video camera. He’s going to be away for a while and Tony knows this moment is one for the books to take with him and look at when he needs a good laugh.

The island counter is full of presents as Peter is surrounded by the people that love him. The people he loves. Obadiah sends his love from wherever he is but Tony doesn’t care. Obie was never one for kids anyway. He’s not missed here.

Tony sees the epiphany behind the look Peter gives him and it makes him laugh so hard, he almost misses the moment Peter smashes his hands on the cake in front of him and brings the chunks he grabs to his mouth. Rhodey and Happy laugh so much they both fall off their stools as Pepper takes the cake away from his high chair table, unable to contain her own surprised giggles. It’s a good day. 

—

Rhodey is standing in the living room with a sleeping Peter in his arms when Tony is walking up from the workshop to receive them when they arrive from their playdate. He has a bad headache, and his annoyance with logistics and paperwork always puts him in a mood.

"You alright?" Rhodey asks as soon as Tony is close enough to them.

"Yeah," Tony dismisses with his hand as he takes a closer look at Peter's sleeping face, running his hand through the kid's mop of hair. "Headache," he quietly answers while his attention is to Peter.

When Pepper enters the house moments after Rhodey and hangs up the phone confirming Tony’s meeting tomorrow with the R & D department coordinators, he knows he's going to have to sleep the headache off. Peter is picking up everything lately and Tony wants him to pick up on the good behavior, even the CEO good qualities. So he practices behaving while his kid sleeps, not even saying anything snarky on the subject. 

"Are you alright?" she asks as she walks over to Rhodey, scrutinizing Tony while her hand rests on Peter's sleeping back.

"Yeah, yeah," he answers, dismissing her with his hand too. "Headache of the century."

"I can get—"

"No, that's fine," he assures, his eyes not leaving Peter's face as he removes his hand from carding through the boy’s hair.

Not looking at Pepper, he waits for her to move on from the subject, which he's grateful she does faster than expected. She clears her throat and then asks how long Peter has been asleep as she steps back from Rhodey, the man telling her that it hasn’t been long since he fell asleep. Tony kisses his son’s forehead while Rhodey answers; he missed that little terror. When Pepper asks if she can put him down, Rhodey gives him to her as careful as possible as to not wake him, Tony saying nothing about the exchange taking place without his consent. 

“I was actually hoping to find him awake. I missed him today,” she whispers with a small pout, hugging Peter closer to her and heading up the stairs to the suites. 

Tony watches her go, ignoring the way his stomach flutters as she disappears from his view. Rhodey clears his throat behind him, Tony whirling around at the sound and finding his know-it-all best friend with a smirk as he hands Tony Peter’s diaper bag. 

“You’re subtle,” he mocks, raising his eyebrows and looking all too amused. 

Tony rolls his eyes at the insinuation he will not entertain, not when Pepper is in the vicinity anyway.

“Not here,” he quietly states, slowly, knowing Rhodey can hear the finality in his voice. “How was he?” he then asks, nonchalant and trying to get his heart to settle as he takes the bag from Rhodey who gives a slight shake of his head with his unfaltering smirk. 

He inhales a deep breath before he answers Tony's question with a “no complains about my godson,” while crossing his arms against his chest with half a shrug. The smirk disappears as he continues talking matter-of-factly. “He’s the best, you know this.”

“Damn right, he is,” Tony affirms as he starts walking to the kitchen with Rhodey in tow and begins to empty out the containers and sippy cups out of the bag and placing them in the dishwasher. “Did he like his lunch? Pepper’s mom’s recipe.”

Rhodey leans against the counter with his arms still crossed against his chest and nods, telling Tony about what sounds like a great, fun day out with uncle Rhodey. 

“Make sure he showers when he wakes up. He brought half the park with him.”

Tony grins down at the diaper bag as he finishes cleaning it of kitchenware and begins to walk back to the living room once everything is in the dishwasher, tossing the bag on the couch as JARVIS announces Obadiah’s flight is delayed because of the snow in New York.

“Oh, I’m sure a bath is in order,” Tony says as Pepper begins walking down the stairs with a Peter Stark still in her arms. 

“He woke up when I tried to lay him down and doesn’t want to go back to sleep,” she says as she reaches them in the living room. 

Tony moves over to her, Peter’s head comfortably laying on Pepper’s shoulder heavy with sleep. When he steps beside her, he brings his nose to touch Peter’s with a soft, “hey, squirt.” 

Peter all but yawns and tightens his hold on Pepper, her smile not going unnoticed as she holds him a little tighter against her too. 

“You know what would be fun? A nice bubble bath, huh? You wanna have a bubble bath party?”

At Tony’s suggestion, Peter’s head perks up and he nods, a bit more awake as he rubs his eyes with the back of his knuckles. JARVIS tells Tony Obadiah is on the line as Tony places his hands on either side of Peter’s face and gives him a loud kiss on his forehead. 

“You got it, buddy. Bubble bath party it is!”

Pepper tells him that she can take care of his bath while he answers Obadiah's call, Tony thanking her as she begins to walk away while talking musings to Peter about his bubble bath on her way back up the stairs.

Tony watches her go, snapping back into the room when Rhodey drops his hand on Tony’s shoulder with a heavy sigh. 

“You got it bad.”

Tony turns to Rhodey, and resigning to what the flutters in his stomach and the warmth in his chest, drops his forehead on his friend's shoulder while letting out a small groan. Rhodey pats his back with a soft chuckle. 

"This is amazing."

Tony stands straight at the sound of Rhodey's words and glares at him with narrowed eyes, telling JARVIS to send the call to the lab and leaving Rhodey in the living room in the middle of his laughter. 

—

“He’s turning _ three_, Tony. Not going away to college,” Rhodey chuckles out as he helps himself with a serving of coffee.

“_Slow down _with the college talk, will you, Rhodey? Ya trynna kill me?” Tony cries from across the kitchen island, shutting his eyes and making a big show of his pain at the thought of Peter in college. He brings his mug of coffee to his lips, taking a sip and shaking his head as he sets the mug down.

Rhodey, always amused by Tony’s absurdities, turns his head at the sound of the small steps rushing towards him. With a fresh smile on his face, Rhodey bends down with open arms as Peter crashes into him, receiving him with a small grunt at the contact.

“Uncle Rhodey!”

“What’s up, kiddo?”

When Rhodey picks up Peter, the kid’s curls are all over the place just like his laughter as he’s being tickled by one James Rhodes. Tony chuckles into his mug while watching them as he continues to sip his coffee. 

“You’re turning three soon, are you excited or what?” Rhodey asks expectant and just as cheerful as the kid, relenting his tickling attack. 

Peter responds with a loud and long “yeeeeees!” as his arms shoot straight up, stretching high towards the ceiling, his lingering laughter causing Tony to laugh too.

—

Peter catches a tough stomach bug a few days before he turns four. He sleeps the whole day during the actual day after he's brought back from the emergency room, only conscious when Tony wakes him to eat something. When it's almost time for the last meal of the day before he can attempt to sleep through the night without the need to be wakened, Tony's hand stills from rubbing Peter's back. He sits up and considers letting him sleep without supper because throwing up and hysterically crying can be exhausting. The knock on Peter's bedroom door makes the decision for him though. And so, with a small sigh, Tony begins to wake him in the gentlest way he can manage, speaking softly to the kid, handling him as smooth as possible when he helps him sit up. Pepper, Rhodey and Happy enter the room as Peter groans against being awake and hiding his face as he crawls towards Tony and latching onto him. 

"Hey, squirt. Look, your favorite visitors are here. You gotta wake up, they brought presents, see?" Peter is against Tony, his little arms wrapped around Tony's neck as Tony rubs his back up and down. He plants a kiss to the side of his head and Pepper sits by the foot of the bed, by Tony's socked feet.

She has a small container in her hands with the soup she promised, in casual attire with her hair down. She looks good, but Peter snaps Tony's admiration back into focus, sighing at Peter's soft cry about being hungry but afraid of his tummy hurting again if he eats, Pepper setting the container down on the night table. Tony doesn't cry with Peter because he has to be strong for him. But his small and tired sobs almost break him in the process. Pepper pouts with sympathy in her eyes, encouragingly squeezing Tony's leg in silence.

"We have to try though, Pete," Rhodey softly tries as he approaches the bed. Happy stands by the door, holding “get well” balloons mixed with “happy birthday”, and a wrapped present in his other hand.

"But it’s gonna make me sick," he answers, hiding his face into Tony's neck. Tony holds him tighter against him then. 

"At least he’s hungry. He’s just scared,” Pepper quietly explains, her hand still on Tony's right shin.

"I had to practically force-feed him applesauce and Pedialyte. Tried a banana and toast but he didn't finish any of it. No throwing up though and no bathroom runs since last night," Tony informs them. "Hey, bud? Pepper brought you that delicious soup you like. You wanna eat with Pepper?"

Peter shakes his head and tells Tony about his tummy aches again, and Tony promises that the soup Pepper brought him won't make his stomach hurt.

"Maybe after we eat we can open presents? You wanna do that?"

But Peter is too afraid of the pain to comply with the requests he's being offered.

"Hey, uh, kid. Remember the thing you wanted me to get for you? Well, I got it." At the sound of Happy's voice, everyone's heads turn towards him. "Yeah, they're in here, see? If you eat, maybe we can try them on. What do you say?"

Peter finally lifts his head at Happy’s offer and rubs his eyes when he tries to open them, Tony asking JARVIS to have the low light setting instead.

"You promise?"

"I promise," Happy reassures with a single nod. Peter then looks at Tony and asks him if he can please eat dinner with him.

With a kiss to his forehead, Tony agrees to eat whenever he does. "But, uh, what's in the box uncle Happy brought for you?" 

"Boxing gloves that fit me! Right?" Peter looks towards Happy for confirmation.

"We'll find out after we eat. Come on." Happy releases the balloons in Peter's room and stretches out his hand for Peter to take, no smile on his face per usual, but the fondness for the kid unable to go unnoticed.

Peter gets off Tony's lap and walks over to Happy. He stretches his arms up when he's at his feet and Happy, without thinking about it twice, picks up Peter with one hand, the kid settling right against him like he was against Tony.

"Daddy, come on. Dinner time," Peter calls as Happy stands in the doorframe with his back to the room, ready to walk out. He turns around to face the crowd with their mouths open, except Pepper who covers her giggles with her palm.

Happy wears a smirk as he looks at them and Tony, ever so grateful for all these people that love Peter, these people that don't give him any slander for showing a gentler side with his son, these people who cook for his Peter when he's sick, who call to speak to him even if they're in the middle of combat training, who buy him souvenirs or stay with him for an hour or two when his nanny isn't available. It's these people. These people Tony would do anything for. Tony, touched and heartfelt, mouths a "thank you" to Happy.

"You're welcome," he mouths back and then begins answering Peter's questions as they walk out of the room and to the stairs.

They all eat Pepper's mom's soup since she sent enough to last them a week, Peter eating a bit of the white rice Pepper also brought him.

He doesn't throw up. 

Once they're done eating, it seems Peter has gained some of his energy from the food and they all head down to the gym where Peter insists he has to try the gloves on the actual boxing ring. It's evident he is well on his way to feeling his usual active self. Happy is in the ring with him, adjusting the boxing gloves he got Peter while Rhodey, Pepper and Tony watch them from the sidelines. 

It's a quiet birthday but it doesn’t negate the amount of love surrounding the Starks.

—

August is majorly spent outside. Tony gets Peter a jungle gym for his fifth birthday, a state of the art jungle gym with everything included. Peter wants to be in that thing 24/7, so Tony sits out with him when he can and even convinces Pepper to work with him outside, soaking up the California sun, especially if Pepper wants to go over CEO..anything he really doesn't want to deal with. He tells her to at least let themselves get a tan while doing it. So they all sit outside, Peter's imagination running wild on the jungle gym while Tony and Pepper work by the pool. Or sitting by the jungle gym if he's particularly fond of the monkey bars that day.

So the three of them are outside either screaming for the monkeys to get down because the dinosaurs are going to eat them, working on proposals and trying to get out of boring meetings he has Obadiah to attend for him—so he doesn't understand why he has to be there also—or by the pool with a Peter J. Stark. On the days the work is light, where Pepper just has to ask Tony a few questions in order for things to get done, he floats on the floaties with Peter doing the same thing. Pepper captures the picture the first few times it happens before they get started because Peter wears the same sunglasses as Tony, just smaller to fit his face and mirrors his father's pose: hands behind his head in the same swimming trunks. He would have them work by the beach but Peter isn't very fond of the "crazy cameramen" as he calls them. Tony understands. 

After going back and forth with Pepper to have her at least dip her feet in the pool before she begins asking questions and organizing things with him, she finally gives in, Peter and Tony floating around as Tony applies sunscreen on Peter every 45 minutes. It always makes Tony laugh when Peter imitates this specific gesture of them in the pool. Until he's done floating and puts his swimming classes to use. 

—

When Peter lands on his hands and knees as he’s trying to break his fall when he tries to demonstrate a walking sloth on the jungle gym, Tony starts to laugh as the kid immediately gets up in the middle of his own laughter. 

“Dad, and all the sloths were sleeping too, but when they woke up they were hanging like this from the trees! Look!”

Letting Peter go to his school field trip was a big milestone for Tony. Pepper, Rhodey, and even Happy were a bit doubtful about it too, but Peter's school was very on top of the parents' concern and met every need they demanded regarding the trip, being that the school is full of kids of well known parents. Tony had a tracker built into Peter’s necklace either way so that helped him out a lot. He got close to zero criticism when he told the uncles, while Pepper shook her head and dropped her forehead against her palm. Once Peter returned, safe and sound, Tony’s anxiety has dialed back down to its normal state. 

When Peter is done demonstrating all the animals he saw in the zoo and they can’t laugh anymore, they lay on the grass and stare at the sky, trying to identify the shapes of the clouds above them. 

Malibu never felt more like home. 

—

Being reborn is a painful process but he’ll make it home, no matter how hard the desert tries to swallow him whole. 

—

“Okay, Peter? This has to stay between us.”

Pepper sits beside Peter on the couch, carding her hand gently through his unruly curls. Tony is on his knees in front of him holding his small, unharmed hands in his bruised ones. He can hear Rhodey on the phone, organizing things with JARVIS’ help for the press conference that has to be held tomorrow. 

Tony sees Peter's hesitance as he glances up at Pepper but Peter, never failing to impress him, stretches out his pinky towards Tony in silence. Tony lets out a small sigh, more surprised than relieved and locks his pinky finger around Peter’s. Pepper drops a kiss to the top of Peter’s head, the silent agreement sealed. The kid gives a look to Pepper again and when he looks back down, she wraps her arms around him; Peter doesn't remove his eyes from Tony in the middle of the embrace and Tony notices the crease of worry lines in his forehead hasn’t moved since they sat him down in the living room to address what took place, what he saw, what Tony hopes doesn’t damage Peter to the point of no return. 

Because Peter had woken up from a bad dream and was looking for Tony, and knowing where to find him, headed straight down to the shop and saw him lying face down on the ground. He had ran to him, gasping and crying at the sight of the reactor missing. When DUM-E handed Peter the box, Peter looked at it and then at Tony's chest and in a split second stood up and walked further away to smash the glass against the floor. He tried to put it in Tony's chest, his small hands shaking, doing the best they could until Tony found the strength to help him adjust it. Peter had seen too much, and Tony is afraid he won't recover from it. Not with the fact that Tony was gone for three months prior to this.

“Hey,” Tony softly says to him, gently caressing his fingers in the middle of Peter's forehead, his crease disappearing at the touch. “What’s the matter?”

“I know the reactor didn't fall out, dad. It can't fall out.”

Peter has spent so much time in the lab with Tony before Afghanistan that fooling him into thinking it was a mistake was a long shot. Considering that Peter is also just as smart, if not smarter than Tony was at his age, Tony has nothing to say and glances up at Pepper who, for the first time since he's hired her, doesn't try to pacify anything on the matter either. 

"I heard uncle Rhodey say Mr. Stane was going to get arrested. He did this, didn't he?"

Silence continues to take place and Peter looks up to Pepper when Tony doesn't answer, who mutely removes a stray piece of hair from his forehead, her eyes and smile trying to offer comfort, Tony is sure, but it all comes as a small frown. Pepper strives to never lie to Peter, so her silence answers the question. He looks back down at Tony, the worry lines on his forehead almost fooling Tony into thinking they're permanent when they return. 

"He can't hurt you anymore?" 

Tony shakes his head, his words still caught in his throat. 

“You’re safe?” 

Tony doesn’t miss the way his eyes cast downward towards the reactor when he asks and his big round and brown eyes fill up with tears when he looks back up to Tony. 

“I am. I promise.” Tony pulls him in for a hug, his own tears threatening an escape. Peter’s arms go around his shoulders, his face hiding at the crook of Tony’s neck. Peter's embrace is tight and strong. It convinces Tony that the gesture is physically pushing the tears that fall out of him.

Peter doesn’t make a big show of it, but Tony feels him crying, quietly, in the same way Tony is doing so as Peter’s small shoulders shake. Tony glances towards Pepper who is gently dabbing at her damp cheeks with the back of her hands. With a shaky breath, Tony stands up with Peter in his arms. He mouths to Pepper that he's going to take him up as he heads to the stairs, and Rhodey steps into the living room, telling Pepper to head down to the workshop with him to help him with the phone calls taking place. 

"Pete alright?" Rhodey asks as he watches Tony go up the stairs. 

Pepper talks to him as they head down to the shop.

Peter is a lot calmer after he’s showered and in his pajamas, hanging on the promise to sleep on his dad’s bed tonight. 

“Can we have the clouds on the ceiling like we do in my room?” he asks as he moves from the center of the bed and taps the empty bedspace next to him.

“Of course, kiddo.” Tony kicks off his shoes and lies next to Peter. “JARVIS?” 

“Here you go, master Peter.”

“Thanks, JARVIS.”

“You’re most welcome.”

Simultaneously, they both release a small sigh when the clouds appear above them, placing their hands behind their heads. Tony looks over to Peter, a small chuckle escapes him when he sees the kid’s eyelids getting heavy. But Peter was never one to give in to sleep on his first try. Tony shifts his eyes back at the ceiling with a small shake of his head. Maybe Peter’s adorable and far too cute demeanor is what’s going to do him in. He sure knows the promise of seeing him and Pepper again was what got him through his days in that cave. How can there be so much love?

“Dad?”

“Pete?”

“Mr. Stane isn’t coming back, right?”

Peter’s honest hours come when he's falling prey to sleep. Tony hears that clock striking twelve.

“Nope. Say, is it true you ate all the cookies in the cabinet before dinner last night?”

“There were only five left. But yeah. It was me. Did you stop him with the red armor you left in?” 

“Yes. What about the chips? Was that you too?”

“No, that was uncle Rhodey _ and _ me when we watched _ Bolt._ Did you save those people in Gulmira a few weeks ago? With the same suit you used tonight?”

Tony freezes for a moment, but then again, Peter never fails to impress him. 

“Yeah,” he says with a breath, settling against his bed and watching the clouds pass by. “Just gave them a hand. How do you know about that?”

“Pepper was watching the news when I was doing my homework with her and there was a picture on TV that looked like the suit downstairs. Are you a superhero?”

“No,” Tony chuckles out. He closes his eyes and gives a slight shake of his head. “That’s a bit outlandish. No, kid.”

“That would be _ fantastic_, dad, because you're a really good person.”

Sometimes, Tony forgets Peter is only six years old when he talks like this, forgets he is following his father's footsteps as a prodigy, that his homework assignments are things the teachers get from middle school and high school curriculums at times. Peter, bright and sweet Peter, who sees the world through Tony's eyes, thinks he's a good guy and it takes all of Tony's strength to not start crying right then. 

“Hey, look,” Tony notices, trying to divert the subject now, “that one’s in the shape of an ice cream cone.” Tony’s index finger shoots towards the ceiling as he points at the cloud. 

“Oh, can we have ice cream?” 

Tony lets out a full laugh at the question, Peter’s “why is that funny? I’m serious!” making him laugh even more. 

“Maybe after dinner tomorrow."

“What a letdown,” Peter mumbles and Tony has to hold the urge to laugh again because he knows he hears Happy say that under his breath at least twice a day. 

“Trust me, squirt. Tomorrow will taste better.” 

“But I would really appreciate if you let me have some _ right now_.”

“Sorry, kid. It’s no from me.”

Peter shakes his head again in disappointment that doesn’t last long because his tiredness keeps giving him away when he yawns, his eyelids heavier by the passing minute.

“I’m not trying to ruin your life, you know.” Tony is so amused by this six-year-old who sounds like a teenager already as he looks down at him.

“I know, dad,” Peter sighs out. “Was the sky really full of clouds when I was born?”

"Yup. Just like this."

Tony’s eyes go back to the clouds above him with a lot more peace in his chest and he knows Peter is also feeling better by the sound of his voice drifting into sleep each time he speaks. "It was a beautiful day out.”

“That’s cool. Can you show me the suit?”

“We’ll see. You wanna stay home from school tomorrow?”

“Okay.” 

Tony takes his eyes off the ceiling and looks down at Peter one more time, whose eyes are closed and in a few more instants, he visibly sinks into sleep. Before he has to go back down and deal with the aftermath of tonight, Tony turns back to the ceiling and savors the small smile on his lips. Because things are crazy right now and he can't change any of it but he let himself feel and be in this moment with his son. He has never loved someone in such a complete way; it’s almost surreal. 

—

Peter is with Tony and Pepper in the office as Tony gets ready for the press conference. He is on his knees as he sits on the chair behind the desk with a coloring book, a set of Legos in a bag almost as tall as him, cards and that CD player Pepper had dropped about a week ago and Peter promised he will fix. He's coloring away as Tony finishes getting ready, Pepper helping him with his jacket as Coulson walks out of the room. Tony is feeling pretty good until he remembers the night he brings up to Pepper, that he did abandon her on the balcony, and decides to try again another time. 

"Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

"That will be all, Ms. Potts."

But she smirks his way as she fixes his collar and dusts his shoulders, and Tony is so caught up at the sight before him. He takes a deep breath and Happy enters the room, Peter looking up from his coloring book at the sound of the door opening. 

"Hey, boss. Rhodey says it's time."

Tony walks over to Peter and bends down to kiss the top of his head. 

"Good luck, dad," Peter says as he looks up at him. 

"Thanks, squirt." They high five each other, Peter going back to his coloring book. 

Tony asks Happy to stay with Peter until he's back from the press conference, overhearing Happy ask Peter if he knows how to play Go Fish as Tony and Pepper walk out. 

"I never said you were a superhero."

"You didn't? Well, good because that would be outlandish and..fantastic." At that exact moment, the conference room is quiet and only the flashes of the cameras are heard. But Tony can't mistake the small giggle that comes from just outside the room where Peter is. 

Tony glances and sees his little eye peeking through the door that's barely opened. Just as Tony locks eyes with that one that is peeking, too similar to his own, the door shuts. 

When Tony and Pepper were finally able to leave the conference and enter the office, fighting off all the reporters after his complete disregard for the notecards, Rhodey dealing with the rest of the questions in the conference room, Peter is disarming a CD player with Happy handing him the tools as they sit by the table. The kid is on the ground this time, concentrated, biting his tongue as he works. Pepper is on the phone as Tony approaches Peter, who sees him and sports a big smile at the sight. Dropping the tools and jumping up, he runs to Tony’s open arms and they let out a small laugh between each other. 

"_Fantastic_, dad! I _told_ you!”

Tony drops his head back with laughter when Peter says that. Pepper steps beside Tony with a sigh, but when her eyes land on Peter still in Tony’s arms, she smiles at him. 

“Thank you for always taking care of daddy, Pepper.” 

It’s so unprecedented, it stills Tony in shock. Peter sounds so sincere, so grateful as he throws his arms around Pepper’s neck, her face copying Tony's in surprise. When he looks to Happy, he just gives Tony a shrug in response, equally shocked by the gratitude. 

“Oh, Peter, I—you’re welcome," is all she's able to say, hugging him back. Peter hugs her for a moment longer and then, when he pulls away, he gives her a kiss on the cheek. 

Tony continues to hold Peter in his arms as he returns back against him from his acts of affection. 

"I really love you. You're awesome," Peter states with a single nod. "Right, dad?"

It’s bound to kill Tony all he’s feeling for Peter right at that moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pepperony? Spiderson? Ironbuds? Happy being his soft self?
> 
> I LIVEEEEEEE
> 
> The summary another line from Florence + The Machine's Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up). Love them oh so much. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading; I really hope you enjoyed it!  
Talk to meh in da comments :)  
and 
> 
> Go be happy.


	3. A Slave to Certainty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW. So, okay. Wow.  
I am SO sorry this took this long. I went away on a retreat and expected the WiFi to work but surprise, surprise: the Lord shut me down fast and furious. 
> 
> He wanted me to focus on Him that weekend so my computer wasn’t charging, WiFi was ridiculous aka nonexistent during the day—anyway. A mess. 
> 
> BUT. Here we are! And in the next few hours I will post the next one because it’s only fair.
> 
> Again, sorry for the delay but ahhhhh, I am very excited and very nervous. This chapter was a bit of a challenge.  
I hope you love it as much as I loved writing it anyway!
> 
> Enjoy<3000

There is no use. It’s been weeks and there has been no results, no substitute for palladium. The arc reactor can keep him alive until it kills him. How mocking. Tony slumps on his chair after he pricks his finger and sees the blood toxicity higher than it was this morning. 

Nevertheless, everything has been in place since JARVIS pointed out the irregularities in his body could be due to the arc reactor’s malfunctions. The A.I wasn’t wrong. 

Having everything in order since he realized that there’s no way out of this one gives Tony some sort of peace in the finality of the matter at hand. Peter is taken care of from now until after his children’s children come, Pepper is CEO and depending on what Peter chooses to do with his life, he can take over when he turns 21. She will also be his primary caretaker in Tony’s absence. All set. In writing. Super official and responsible. With a tired hand down his face, he changes the burning core that’s in his chest, stands from his seat and then has JARVIS shut down the workshop in his wake.

“How’s Peter doing, J?” He is out of breath when he reaches the foot of the stairs and decides to take his time going up. 

“Master Peter is sound asleep. I shut down the clouds display thirty minutes after he did so.”

"Has he woken up since?"

"Not that I've noticed, sir."

Tony nods slowly, waiting for the reactor to catch up to the new core he implemented and the thought of it all ending right at that moment seems so welcoming. Maybe he can will the toxicity to take him in his sleep; he'll sleep in the suit or something. 

He steadies himself with one hand on the wall and stops to catch his breath for a moment. Everything is quiet, everyone is alright and there is no harm, nothing that needs to get done on his behalf. Right now would be ideal, but alas, Tony knows better and settles for what he’s been handed.

"Seeing that it is midnight, I think a happy birthday is in order, sir.”

JARVIS brings a small grin out of him as he slowly starts up the stairs again.

"You’re not gonna sing to me, JARVIS?"

"I don't think you'd enjoy it as much, but I can wish it again: happy birthday, Mr. Stark."

“Thanks, buddy,” Tony breathes out as he feels the core finally picking up though his body deteriorates in the process.

Birthdays, Peter's favorite time of the year—especially if it's Tony. He's looking forward to see what Peter has planned for him. From the coloring pages he started off with, to the actual engine, just like Tony had at his age. The times in the workshop proved to be the push Peter needed, Tony’s smile as he thinks of Peter on his lap while he watches him work feels the sweetest yet. The time Peter started laying and moving his hands atop Tony’s as he was trying to imitate and understand what Tony was talking about in that moment as he worked on it, will always bring him a sense of pride that continues to be indescribable. He worried being in the shop wouldn’t be as rewarding as it turned out, but Tony wanted to show Peter that it’s a place for creation, not destruction. That approach and Peter’s therapy sessions have been helping him; the nightmares and anxiety were one of the worst things to watch Peter go through. He’s been doing a lot better. Tony just hopes he didn’t mess that up with that little show he did in Monaco.

But he needed to do that, to release all he was carrying in exchange for adrenaline. He didn’t know why he had to result to such extremes but he thought it a good idea at the time. He had to feel something other than complete uselessness, even knowing Peter didn’t deserve to be worried about his dad getting hurt or being killed, and it disturbs him not being sure if the latter was what he was hoping for. 

He wanted to be better for Peter but life had other plans, and he’s going to need a_ lifetime_ he doesn’t have to accomplish that, a father Peter truly deserved: someone good like him, someone kind, someone that’s not impulsive in the worst ways, or arrogant. Tony wishes he could’ve been the type of father that speaks up when Pepper is reprimanding him because Peter found him “pissed drunk” on the bathroom floor, but he was throwing up due to the neutron damage from the reactor wall. He’d rather lead her to believe it’s just old Tony Stark. That it isn't him being too much of a coward and not telling his family that he's dying, that he's sorry he couldn't do anything about it, that it isn't him having a hard time accepting the fact that he won't see his son grow up, that he couldn't prepare his son for his departure. Because Peter loves Tony, that much he is sure of, that much Peter demonstrates; he sees the world through Tony’s eyes and Tony is afraid that when his set closes for good, Peter won’t see anything past him being gone. 

Not being able to see those set of brown eyes grow into their own view of life feels like it's killing him faster than the poison in his blood. 

He hopes that Peter knows he tried to prevent it but there was no use. No amount of green juices, no healthy lifestyle, no combination, no permutation of any or every known element was going to stop it from happening. So he gets to the top of the steps with his son in mind and is greeted with Rhodey, who was supposed to be back West tomorrow for Tony’s birthday bash. His last hoorah. Ever.

“Platypus! To what do I owe this visit?”

Rhodey shakes his head as he walks over to Tony with feigned annoyance and an eyeroll that means nothing, Tony is sure. The Colonel hands him the bottle he holds in his hand and automatically smiles at the memory it brings when he looks down at it. Oh, to be twenty-one again with one Papa Bear James Rhodes supplying all the alcohol. 

“Happy birthday, old man,” Rhodey congratulates as he drops a hand on Tony’s shoulder with a broad smile.

“You remembered!” Tony looks up at him with a smile of his own, because it’s always a good time to tease Rhodey.

“I hate you. Let it be known,” he responds as he hugs Tony, an embrace that feels all too real for it to just be him teasing. “What do you say? Poolside?”

Rhodey pulls away as he asks and heads toward the kitchen, Tony asking JARVIS to have the low lights on by the pool and send a notification on his phone in case Peter wakes up. Rhodey grabs two glasses from the cupboard and walks out to the backyard with Tony beside him.

They are down to half the bottle, Rhodey doing most of the damage, when they both almost choke on their laughter from reminiscing about Rhodey’s last time celebrating Tony’s birthday. He wasn’t around last year but the year before that was exceptional. Not because of the girls or the dancing or the good time with people he doesn’t really care about, but because Rhodey is _ hilarious _ as Peter would say, and he never fails to make Tony feel worthy of all the good things that happen to him. Good like ending up with a treasure for a kid despite all the things Tony did in his youth that would disqualify him from even raising that child. 

He feels the nostalgia hitting him at the thought of being unconscious for the rest of his life without being aware of it. It’s all that makes sense to him when he thinks of death. A long, unaware sleep for all eternity. Where is he going to go when the time comes? A lifetime without Rhodey, without Peter, without Pepper, without Happy, without his _ family._

“Mm,” Rhodey hums as he finishes his drink and sets the glass down on the small table between his chair and Tony’s, “okay, okay,” he slightly slurs.

They sit on the recliners, both of them facing the night sky at a real comfortable angle. Tony turns his eyes from the sky to face Rhodey, displaying a tired and what feels like a slightly tipsy grin on his lips.

“I asked Pepper what the J in the squirt’s name stands for but I want to hear it from you.”

Tony chuckles as he fixes his eyes to the sky again. He prefers the clouds better. Maybe he can rest on one, watch over Peter from high up. Maybe the kid sees that cloud when he’s looking up one day and catches a glimpse of Tony waving down at him, and he will be waving maniacally if that’s the case. But he knows he’s not going to be on a cloud, only the people with pure hearts go up or whatever. Tony understood the taste of his own medicine, he just didn’t have enough time to make up for his mistakes.

“It’s Jarvis but you not confirming it genuinely stresses me—like, what kind of reverse psychology bullshit is that?”

With a chuckle towards the sky, he tells Rhodey about Peter’s middle name. Might as well. Time’s running short anyway.

“What?”

“Yeah. Peter James Stark.”

“Are you _ serious_? I mean, I know Pepper wouldn’t lie and she wasn’t even sure but _ for real_?”

The slurring is minimal but it’s present on Rhodey’s part and it makes Tony laugh more than it should.

“W-why?” Rhodey sounds like he’s on the verge of tears when he speaks and Tony has to suppress his laughter as he refreshes Rhodey’s memories.

Rhodey was the big brother he never had, sometimes the father he never felt loved by. Rhodey saved Tony’s life from the muggers in Cambridge that one night Howard had upset him so bad, he went off campus and wondered a bit too far. Just last week before he left, he helped Tony reach his desk when he had left the palladium core in for too long and couldn’t move. He has put things into perspective for Tony, in turn saving his life again and his company, and his sanity. He has always encouraged him, has always believed in him, believed in Tony’s capacity for good despite what Tony says about himself. Rhodey has always been by Tony’s side, has always put Tony in his place out of love, never out of anger or frustration. Rhodey has always made Tony feel important, someone worth sticking around for. Rhodey was the first person to step up to Howard when the man decided he wanted to take his frustrations out on Tony—multiple times. He became Tony’s hero long before that, but that solidified it for him.

Rhodey is honest, and a _ really _ good man. He’s funny, smart and headstrong and an incredible friend.

“You’re also handsome as hell, honeybear. If I want Peter to model after anyone, I want him to model after you. Carrying your name is a reminder of that, I think, don’t you?”

Rhodey remains silent as Tony finishes talking and turns his gaze back to the sky. When Rhodey stays quiet for too long, Tony glances his way, then removes his gaze from him again. A pause and then he asks,

"What are you looking at?"

"I'm looking at you," Rhodey responds soberer than Tony expected him to. Rhodey sets his glass down on the table and Tony releases a breath that says he knows what’s coming, so he continues to stare above him. He wants to see the clouds. 

No one knows him as well as Rhodey so when he points out to Tony that something must be going on, that he _ knows _ that something has definitely _ been _ happening, Tony isn't surprised. 

"You wanna tell me?"

What is he going to say? What’s Tony telling Rhodey going to do but upset the man? Whatever is coming is imminent and he cannot fix it. This time, he's reached his dead end. He thinks for an instant, thinking about this moment in time without Peter influencing his every decision since he came into his life; his coping methods would've probably been worse than his actions in Monaco, thinking about no one needing him, missing him. Tony doesn't know if he's going to be..feeling or anything of the sort on the other side, but he knows he's going to miss these people, his _ son, _from wherever he ends up. 

"You want to do this whole lone gunslinger act and it's unnecessary. You don't have to do this alone."

"You know," Tony says with a lot more peace than he'd expect to have in this situation, eyes on the brightest star, "I wish I could believe that, I really do but you've got to trust me. Contrary to popular belief, I know exactly what I'm doing."

Rhodey doesn't say anything for a long while, sitting up and facing Tony in their silence. He’s the first one to break it.

"Tell me more about Peter being the one building and DUM-E still hosing _ you _ down with the fire extinguisher."

Tony’s head whirls around to face Rhodey and the realization he sees in his eyes makes his throat burn with the urge to suddenly break into tears. Rhodey gives him a slow nod, almost edging him on but Tony can’t decipher for what. Until he speaks again. 

“I love my godson. You can rest assured that he will always be taken care of if I’m around, so if DUM-E thinks it best to hose you down just to have Peter laughing, then I’m on board.”

Tony’s eyes water, knowing that if he speaks, he will lose all composure. Turning back to his view, he exhales a breath and begins to tell Rhodey about DUM-E picking favorites anyway, doing his best to remain in the bliss of that moment. He laughs just as the first time he saw the footage. He asks for more stories about Peter, listening and asking questions in between. Rhodey praises Tony and acknowledges the greatness in Peter that he helped develop, the love he cultivated between the two of them. It overwhelms Tony to the point he doesn’t know what to say, and just stares to the sky as his tears silently fall from his eyes. One thing Rhodey is right about is Tony’s affection for his son.

He genuinely doesn't know how the love and adoration he has for him hasn’t been able to power the reactor on its own, it's so much. 

—

He pees in the suit.

Maybe if Peter wasn’t with his sitter and was in the vicinity, things wouldn’t have gotten out of control. Maybe Tony would’ve thought about it before he decided to recklessly do whatever he wanted, Natalie’s advice not helping the cause.

Maybe Tony isn't handling it as well as he thought he was, even with Peter in the picture. Death doesn't care that he's being rational. It's coming either way.

—

Pepper, with Rhodey’s full backing, won’t let him see Peter until he gets his life together. Look at them protecting the kid. He knew he picked the right people to look after him. He doesn’t fight them on it much because getting his life together is not an option when there is no life left to live. He only wishes that he gets to see Peter one last time and Pepper and Rhodey don’t stay mad at him too long. 

—

Nick Fury has a lot to say for someone that was never around to see the way Howard treated Tony when he was alive. It’s also _so_ not fair that _Natasha, _which is her_ real name, _gets a Stark Industries‘ check but can’t get fired. Not because of the money but because she’s a complete impostor, and a liar, and probably can't even speak Latin. 

—

He shows to apologize to Pepper, or so he thought but no. He shows to confess and, well, years of blocking and bottling things inside have finally paid off because he can’t do either of those things once he’s before her. She’s not pleased about his lack of communication or the fact that, yeah, she is putting out his fires and taking the heat for it. Or that he brought her the only thing she’s allergic to.

“I am trying to run a company and trying to make sure Peter is alright, that he’s not too scarred by your misconduct, Tony.”

“How’s Peter since I last spoke to him?”

She sighs, her anger visible in her face as she continues to stare at him.

“I pick him up in half an hour. He misses you but he’s good. Excited about the Expo tomorrow.”

“He said he’s looking forward to it, yeah.” He looks around the office again and continues to play with the pen in his hand. With a pain right in his chest, he looks to his hands and then at Pepper. 

“I miss him too.” It’s as if it’s almost too much to carry and if he doesn’t let it out, it’ll drown him. 

“Then, please Tony. What are you not telling me?” She leans forward from her seat, her eyes worried and her elbows on the desk. Her blue eyes look for honesty Tony can’t give her. 

They stare at each other for a moment and then Natasha knocks on the door with Happy behind her. She’s entering the office as she tells Pepper whatever she needed done is all set. Pepper stares at him for a second longer and then sighs as she thanks Natasha while signing the paperwork she hands to her. 

“I’ll call you after dinner.”

“That’s right, it’s Thursday. Peter and Pepper date night,” he says while he spins on his chair to follow Pepper's move as she steps outside of the desk and grabs her blazer from the coat hanger by the door. “I’ll call you before his bedtime. Don’t worry about it. Have fun at dinner.”

Pepper doesn’t say anything and leaves with Happy trailing her suitcase behind her. He faces Natasha again and shakes his head, grabbing one of the strawberries he brought for Pepper and biting into it while watching her gather her things.

“You’re a triple impostor, I’ve never seen anything like it,” he comments casually, eating the fruit while spinning back to face her at the desk. “Is there anything real about you? Do you even speak Latin?”

Turns out she can and Pepper is her new best friend, and they all probably ride with Happy in the car talking about ways to drive Tony up the wall. He’s sure of it. When she leaves the room, he sees if he can get anything of his out of the office for Pepper, maybe she’ll appreciate it more than the strawberries that can kill her.

And then he sees it. 

—

“Congratulations, sir. You have created a new element.”

One more day to spend with Rhodey, bickering and loving Pepper. One more day with Peter. Peter at 10 years old. Peter at 16. Hell, Peter married and with kids is all he really hears when JARVIS speaks as he stares at the triangle-shaped element. The reactor accepts the modified core. He has more time. He has more time.

—

“Dad, answerrrrr youuurrrr phoneeee, hellloooooooo! Are you coming to the Expo? I’m going with Pepper and Ms. Rushman. I wish you were here to see the cool things Pepper got me! I love you, and I hope you’re feeling better so I can see you soon!”

Tony can still taste the coconut from the new core in the reactor when he’s suiting up. He shouldn’t have applied it so hastily in case something goes wrong but Peter’s voicemail calls for desperate measures. He is going to be in the building where Vanko wants to show his new tricks, and Pepper isn’t answering her phone.

—

In Tony’s defense, he also doesn’t know if he’s going to kill himself or wreck his whole company or leave a whole child fatherless. And Pepper resigning? Yeah, she lasted far longer than anyone would ever consider with the things he puts her through. She has taken such good care of him. She deserves better.

But there she is, and here he stands. And he loves her, and there is more time to show her that. He wants to show her that.

Kissing her doesn’t feel foreign. He can hear it in his head: at last, Mr. Stark.

—

Tony hangs up the phone with Happy after he confirms he has Peter and is on his way to the hotel. He sits at the foot of the mattress in the hotel room, quiet as he stares up at Pepper while she cleans the cuts on his face. Her hair is growing fast, Tony noticing is just a bit past her shoulders. She casts her eyes to his for a quick second with no reaction as she continues to clean the side of his face. 

"What?" she quietly mumbles out as she concentrates, applying a bit of pressure to his cut while trying to remove the dried blood on his eyebrow.

Does he tell her that he's glad she's with him? That he's grateful she sought to Peter's safety as soon as she could? Does he mention how he really would like to kiss her again? Does he tell her that her eyes don't match the indifference she is trying to convey when she speaks to him? 

"Your eyes," he starts because he's completely mesmerized, "do they change color? They do, right?"

"Sometimes they're a dark blue, other times they become a pale kind of blue," she answers, but the distraction in her voice tells Tony she's entirely too focused on disinfecting his wounds. "..Why?" She hasn't looked at him, Tony wincing at the alcohol on the cut by his eyebrow, and before he can tell her that they are the darkest of blues right in that moment, the door to the room swings open, doorknob to wall. 

“Dad? Dad!” 

At the sound of Peter’s voice, Tony's head spins around to see him make a beeline to where Tony sits. Suddenly, his heart starts racing at the sight, and all the days he was unable to see Peter, when he thought he was never going to see him again, come rushing back. It feels like someone is tightly wrapping a hand around his throat with great force when Tony falls to his knees and Peter crashes against him in a tight embrace. Immediately at the contact, the hand around his neck seems to release its hold and Tony has to close his eyes to ground himself. The last time he saw Peter was the night before his birthday, and then all hell broke loose.

Peter is talking but Tony can't make out what he's saying, focused on the fact that he will be going home with Peter, and watch him grow into the incredible man he's already showing signs of.

“Hey, squirt,” he quietly greets him, Peter stepping back and smiling at Tony while he holds his shoulders. "I missed you, kid," he lets out, kissing his forehead. 

"I missed you, dad." Peter, ever so innocent with his bright and sweet personality exuding out of him, throws himself at Tony again. "So much," he quietly confesses against him. This time, Peter breaks the hug and stares at Tony for a moment, scrutinizing his face.

“What? What is it?”

Peter stares a bit longer, his smile fading and being replaced with worry lines on his forehead. Tony can see from the corner of his eyes the door to the room opening again but he can’t break eye contact because Peter places both of his gloved hands on either side of Tony’s face and breaks the streak of not invading other people's personal space he was talked. 

“Pete?” He is staring directly into Tony's eyes and not saying a word. It starts creeping Tony out. 

“You look better. Are you better?”

Tony swallows dry because Peter never misses an opportunity to impress him. He had seen him throwing up, had mentioned him looking pale, pointed at the high tech looking crossword puzzle looking veins forming around his chest two nights before Tony’s birthday when he found Peter awake next to him, staring at it as he slept with no shirt on. No matter how many times Tony confirmed he was okay at Peter’s questions, tried to put up a good front for his son’s sake, Peter was never satisfied with the responses Tony gave him.

“I—yeah, squirt. I’m okay,” Tony softly comforts.

Peter holds Tony’s face for a moment longer, looks him in the eye one last time and shares the look of satisfaction Tony never saw when he said those words before this moment. 

“Okay, good. I believe you.” Peter steps back and looks to Pepper, giving her a hug and thanking her for taking care of Tony. 

Watching them from where he is, Pepper looks down at Tony as she holds Peter against her. She kneels down in front of him and gives Peter the softest grin while gently placing some of his curls behind his ear. She doesn't say anything, and Peter hugs her again. 

“I believe this belongs to you,” a voice drifts from the room. When Tony breaks his eyes from Pepper and Peter’s interaction, Natasha is standing in the middle of the room in full gear while Happy stands further back.

She holds an Iron Man helmet in her hand, stretching out towards Peter. Tony looks to Pepper as he stands, Peter also turning his attention to Natasha. 

“I know,” Pepper confirms and Tony walks over to the triple impostor, taking the plastic Iron Man helmet from her hands, saying nothing as he watches her casually look around the room. 

“Oh, thanks!” Peter grabs the helmet from Tony’s hands and very excited tells him that “she’s a real spy. Like, a real spy. Remember when she knocked uncle Happy in the ring? That was a ‘classified’ move!”

Right at that moment, Happy walks up to Tony, grabbing his attention away from Peter. The kid is high on the events of the night while Happy is telling Tony about his flight arrangements back home.

"You have to talk to Fury before you go," Natasha evenly states. She gives Peter a lopsided grin when he asks if she can teach him "any of those super cool moves! I’m pretty strong, I can show you!" 

Tony looks at Natasha, the softness small but evident as she tells Peter she will teach him when things are all back to normal.

"Awesome!"

Peter is high on the events that took place, that’s clear as he kicks off his shoes, puts his helmet on and fakes the noises coming out of his fingerless gloves from the top of the bed. Tony notices that the gloves have the repulsors in the center of them and he feels the anxiety rising inside of him as he watches him. Peter can copy Tony's style, and he can get inspired by a pair of sunglasses, but this is where Tony draws the line.

His mouth dries up and everything slows down when Peter keeps firing at his pretend enemies, touching the side of his helmet to make it light up. 

“Hey, Pete. You hungry?” He tries to not react to the chill that goes down his spine at the kid's command in his play.

“I would like a cheeseburger or you’ll suffer the consequences!” 

Tony is trying his best not to panic, and he doesn't know what triggers him to react to the kid's words, but he moves with urgency to the bed while trying to swallow down the hysteria he can’t identify. He grabs him by his hand and asks him to sit down, helping him do so while kneeling right before him.

“Peter." Tony's tone grows more serious than he intends, but somehow he has to hide the anxiety that the image of Peter with the plastic Iron Man helmet—

Wait. 

"Can you, Peter—please take off the helmet."

When Peter takes it off and sets it beside him, Tony stares at him without a word. He notices a few freckles coming out of his face, right on his cheekbones. His hair is longer, but it seems he's gotten a shape up. His eyes are still so round, so brown, so very much Tony's, and the features on his face are a bit more grown into. How long was Tony gone? 

"What? Why can't I have a cheeseburger? It was a crazy night. A _long_ night.”

"Yeah? You had a long night?" Tony asks, carding his fingers through Peter's hair as he asks. When his son yawns with a nod, Tony looks at his watch and realizes it's about an hour past Peter's bedtime. 

Tony doesn't ask about Peter’s side of the events that took place. He'd rather not confirm what he already knows and will check on the footage later. Right now, they have to take the flight back to Malibu. It's a Sunday night and Peter has school in the morning. 

—

It was Peter under the mask that he saved that night. Pepper tells him what happened between the time Peter lost grip on her hand so that he could go with Happy, and what happened after Natasha found him and took him with her and Happy. He tries not to fly in the suit straight into the ocean because Peter's safety gets harder to maintain with time. If the kid isn't climbing cabinets to reach cookies, he's trying to take on a killer drone with toys. Trying to not continue to spiral, he heads upstairs, the shop shutting down as he exits. While heading straight towards Peter's room, he bumps with Pepper as she is going down the steps.

"Oh, I was just checking on him. Thought I heard him calling."

"Calling for me?"

"Actually..I heard—doesn't matter. He's alright."

He stares up at her and takes her word for it. He doesn't say anything else, noticing right then that lately Pepper has a way of taking all the words out of him while doing absolutely nothing but stare right back. It unnerves Tony but it's not more potent than the way he wants to keep her close. 

"I'll be going now. Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

He begins to shake his head slowly, inhaling a deep breath and putting his hands in his front pockets. His cheeks are blown with air as he looks to the side for a moment. He needs to regroup. Exhaling, he looks back at her and responds. 

"No, Ms. Potts."

—

They talk and discuss while sitting on the living room couch, the house still a mess from the creation that took place just a few hours ago. They compromise, and set up things for Peter’s adjustment, and argue, get together and break up, and organize and kiss until the sun rises, until Peter wakes up, Iron Man helmet on and running down the stairs to see the two adults on the couch, too caught up on each other's company to have realized they've reached morning. Pepper turns around in her seat, her back to Tony as she opens her arms to receive Peter.

"Pepper!" Peter takes off his helmet in a haste and throws himself at her in an embrace. She chuckles at the interaction, holding him just as tight as he holds her. 

"Hey, you," Tony greets with a warmth in his chest and a smile on his face. Peter let’s go of Pepper at the sound of his voice and his eyes widen comically at the sight of Tony on the couch.

Peter loses his marbles, making Tony laugh so hard as he is tackled into a hug by a very excited soon-to-be eight-year-old. 

"You're staying?” he asks as he pulls away and holds Tony’s shoulders. Then hugs him again, words coming out a mile a minute. “Are we staying?” And then he pulls away and holds Tony’s shoulders again as he continues speaking. “What's going on?"

Tony and Pepper stare at each other, the smile beginning to ache his cheeks all the while Peter hops off Tony's lap and stands between them on the couch.

"Hello?" he cries, "can anyone hear me?" He waves his hand in front of Tony's face, the distraction from Pepper's vibrant blue eyes interrupted by a repulsor-like fingerless glove in his face. 

"What—get down, Peter. Yes. Staying. Pep?"

She smiles at Tony and then directs the same look to Peter. 

"What do you think, Peter? Would that be okay with you? For me to stay?"

"Are you kidding me?! The only reason we haven't cracked up is because of you! Stay!"

Tony can't help the laugh he lets out, dropping his head back as Pepper sits the tiny terror on her lap. She places her cheek on top of Peter's head while looking at Tony with a grin on her lips as her arms go around the kid lovingly, the only way Pepper Potts functions around Peter Stark. Peter is lightly swinging his legs back and forth, excited as he stares at Tony while chuckling also. Tony leans back against the couch then, locking eyes with Peter and offers him a high five the kid meets him with wearing a smirk on his face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pepper slowly but surely takes over this whole thing until Peter comes in the picture and robs me and Tony of our hearts.  
I love them all so much. 
> 
> I hope you liked it! Talk to me in the comments, let’s be friends! :) 
> 
> Go be happy.


	4. Pompeii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony's summers seem to always be the apocalypse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh-eheu, eheu  
  
This is long and long so take your time reading it.

Things tend to unfold back to back, almost in snapshots. It’s all very direct. It’s all very precise. And they happen without remorse and without warning.

Back to back. One after the other.

As the construction workers finish their last day rebuilding the small damage that took place during the Hammer bots’ incident, Tony hopes things have settled since then. The Starks could use a break, especially the younger one. 

—

Tony arranges for Peter to come with him and Pepper to Manhattan, blaming it on the sitter’s unavailability to stay with him for that week Tony will be gone. He’s not a helicopter parent, no. And unfortunate events can take place when he’s not present so he prefers to be safe rather than taking his chances with "sorry" when it comes to Peter. _And_ he also just wants to spend time with him because he’s growing up in the blink of an eye and Tony can’t help but to feel like he is missing everything ever since the house arrest a couple of years ago.

He has Peter’s tutor fly out until the weekend arrives, the day before they start up the Stark tower. That indescribable pride that took over when Peter was watching Tony work on it, engaging and asking questions about the project almost swallowed Tony whole. He wouldn’t stop talking about Peter to Pepper, who always listens with a smile or adds to what Tony has to say. He’s fascinated by Peter’s capacity of knowledge, his curiosity, how bright and intelligent he is, how kind and compassionate too. 

Tony tries to remember when his father discovered and encouraged his genius but the memories aren’t ones he’d like to revisit. Howard never looked at Tony with “best creation” eyes, let alone treat him as such; he begins to wonder if he was anything like Peter is at his age but knows it’s a stretch to think that on his part. No soul could be this beautiful, this good and have someone like Howard not bend at the mere sight. Tony understands a little better then that maybe he wasn’t like Peter. But even if Peter wasn’t this piece of joy to be around, Tony would’ve loved him and demonstrated it all the same. 

Maybe he would’ve been more like Peter if it wasn’t just Maria overcompensating for the lack of decent fatherhood in Tony’s life. 

“Okay, I’m ready!”

Peter stands at the frame of the door of Tony’s bedroom as Tony finishes putting on his shoes while sitting on his bed, thoughts interrupted as he begins standing up with a grin on his lips.

“How did it go?”

Peter rolls his eyes as Tony meets him at the door, placing his arm around his son’s shoulders.

“Biology, I understand. Physics? Sure. Statistics, I’ll deal with. But modern art? I was so close to falling asleep with my eyes open.”

Tony can’t help the small but full laugh that escapes him, completely in love with this kid. 

“I want you to say that just like that when Pepper asks how the session went.”

They lock eyes as they look in each other’s direction while they head towards the room where the project Peter rushed through his tutoring session for is being administered by one breathtaking Pepper Potts. 

“Nah-ah. She’s the one that gave Ed the idea for it!”

—

“I don’t understand why I have to go.”

Tony finishes closing Peter’s bag as the kid sits in the middle of his bed, looking up at Tony with a fear he hasn’t seen since he was six and thought Tony had died in his workshop due to the missing reactor in his chest. He looks so young when he stares like that, his gaze now glassy and a lot more pained than Tony wants Peter to be.

Not saying a word, he removes Peter’s bag from the bed and tells JARVIS to tell Pepper Peter is going to take an extra fifteen minutes before he can go. He then proceeds to lay down on the bed, on his back as his hands are neatly on his stomach and asks JARVIS to display the clouds overhead. He made sure the feature for the clouds was available in all his properties, all the places Peter might have to stay in were Tony not around. He even built a portable display to carry with him after the whole Vanko fiasco when Peter was staying with Pepper at her place. He placed one of them in Peter’s bag now, the first thing the kid packed when he accepted his father wasn’t going to let him stay with him tonight.

Equally silent, Peter lays next to Tony and remains that way until he notices the cloud above him in the shape of a guitar, pointing to it.

“Why don’t you wanna go to DC, kid?”

Peter inhales a deep breath and then unloads with his eyes straight to the ceiling. 

“Every time Agent Coulson comes around, you disappear or I can’t see you, or I have to wait forever for you to come home. Are you really just going as a consultant or are you going as Iron Man?”

_Back to back. No warning, no remorse_. Peter notices too, then.

“That’s the plan. No fights, just advice on how to go about them. What are you referring to with Coulson?"

As Tony stares upward, Peter tells him about the three month period he was lost in Afghanistan and Coulson had appeared at the office a few times. Peter says he remembers because he was taken out of school in the meantime and went to work with Pepper while Rhodey looked for Tony. Though Peter mentions he can’t remember what was being said between Coulson and Pepper, he explains how he felt every time he came around because Peter knew it had to do more about Tony’s absence than his return. Then he goes on about the house arrest with the whole new element parade, which Peter later on found out that he was lied to and that his father wasn't highly contagious with anything. He did not care much for that lie they fed him. 

“Now, he’s here and I have to go with Pepper without you. Again.”

Tony, by God, _ understands_. Coulson is part of the no-warnings-no-remorse notion, never caring what he could possibly affect when he enters the territory. Back to back. He exhales a deep breath and looks to Peter beside him, and the kid’s eyes are full of worry when he meets Tony’s. The sight is more than unpleasant so Tony sits up and takes Peter’s hand, pulling him up too. With a fierce promise of a return, empowering words and reassuring ones, Tony hugs Peter until he has to go.

—

When the call to Pepper doesn’t go through, and he’s literally staring in the void of space, Tony hopes she understands he did this for her, for Peter. Yes, the whole world was at stake but _his _world is a subject to the one he’s saving. He only wishes he would’ve had the chance to tell Peter how sorry he is and how right he was about all of it. Everything. 

_Back to back. No warning. _

His oxygen runs out but the ship is destroyed. Peter will see another day.

_No remorse._

—

“We won.”

It’s not so much a rebirth as it is a wake-up call when Captain Spangles breathes out those words.

—

“Pep?”

“Tony? Tony, oh, my gosh.” Pepper answers on the first ring and immediately starts crying on the other line at the sound of his voice. “Are you alright? Oh, my gosh.”

“I need the chiropractor STAT, but fine otherwise.” He steps into the penthouse once SHIELD clears out and Banner comes back from his hate of stairs a regular size man. He takes him to a guest room so that he can get ready since they are meeting Thor—wait until Peter hears about him meeting an actual god—to send off Loki back to his planet before Tony commits a murder. “How are you? Are you okay? How’s Peter?”

“You..jerk,” she chokes out, “we saw you go up the wormhole and dropping. Peter is devastated, cried himself to sleep not too long ago.”

Tony shuts his eyes with a sigh as he enters his suite, ready for a long shower. He tells Pepper to call him as soon as Peter wakes up.

“Tony,” she quietly cries out as if it’s all she can say.

“I know.”

“You can’t..just..I just..” But Pepper doesn’t finish, staying quiet on the line. Tony just sits back on his bed, waiting on her because he has nothing either.

_No remorse_.

“We’re a few minutes from Teterboro airport in New Jersey. The New York airports are shut down. We’ll be there as soon as possible.” She shares this with a lot more strength when she finally speaks.

“I’ll be here when you get back.”

“You better.”

—

Alexander Pierce tried to keep Loki prisoner, but after Maria Hill peppered in the fact they wanted to nuke the city, all of it was forgotten. Tony is tired so he's glad that was handled nice and quick. He heads back to the tower with Bruce and after he is settled in his room when they come back from seeing off Thor and his brother, Happy calls to say he’s on the way to the tower with Peter and Pepper from the airport. He is stuck in traffic which is probably still a mess.

“Thanks, Happy. How’s the kid?”

“You scared us shitless, Tony. He’s peachy compared to how he was before.”

“Ask him if he wants to talk to me.”

Happy asks. Peter refuses. 

“Patch me through the system.”

He waits a moment and Happy follows through.

“You’re on, boss.”

“Peter, hey kid,” but Tony quickly realizes he has nothing to say yet, that he doesn’t even really know what happened. 

_No warning, no remorse. _

“I..I’ll be here waiting for you, buddy.” Tony picks up on Pepper shushing softly in the background, and then hears the quiet cries from who he assumes is Peter. That’s all the kid gives him to go with so Tony asks to be off speaker and tells Happy to hurry back. 

—

Tony’s eyes water at the sight of Pepper walking out of the elevator and entering the floor where he’s by the bar, on his second glass of scotch, thinking, considering. Trying to understand God knows what. Because he knows this isn’t the end of that. He knows it. His mind short circuits though at the sight of Peter and rushes to him as the kid pushes past Pepper and does the same. Tony lets his tears fall quietly when he kneels down and Peter knocks him back on his bottom when he crashes into him. He sits with a mess of a boy in his arms, crying and hugging Tony so tight. 

“I’m so mad at you!” is what he says when he takes a step back, "you are never leaving me behind, ever again, dad.”

“Pete...” Tony tries to offer some sort of comfort as he lets out a shaky breath but his face just contorts to a suppressed sob as he runs his fingers through Peter's hair. 

“I mean it. You’re not leaving me behind again.” 

Tony can’t answer that as Peter unceremoniously wipes his nose with the back of his hand and stands tall before Tony, hiccups and tears still very present.

"Dad, promise me."

But Peter pushes Tony to places he didn't even know he was able to access because he cannot promise that. It's gotten way past people just trying to take him down for the count. It's no longer a small local fight Tony is fighting; he’s defending the whole world. With a shake of his head and slowly drowning on the fact that he almost died, again, without any fair warning to Peter, again, the guilt that wraps him when he looks at his son and denies his demand, forces his cries out.

"I can't.._do_ that, Peter."

The moment makes Tony stumble because Peter steps back, indignant, and stares at Tony in a way he never has before. He begins to go back and forth with Tony until the kid tries to run away but Tony grabs him by his hand, pulling him back into him.

“I'm coming with you! I _have_ to come with you! You need me!” He cries out while trying to get out of the grip Tony barely is able to keep him in, his anger coming out in his pushback.

”I need you _safe_, Peter. _Hey_. Stop, _stop_!”

Tony doesn't let go of him until Peter stops fighting him and lets himself be held by Tony, sitting on his lap as he tries to soothes the kid’s cries.

”Shhh, it’s _okay_ kid. It’s going to be alright,” he whispers to him as he gently rocks him back and forth. Happy is at the door, looking away and stoic as always swiping at his face while Pepper steps toward them and kneels before Tony, holding Peter's hand who holds it back just as tight.

Peter's sobs die out only because he's asleep against his father.

—

Pepper sits in a sort of quiet that seems to want to stay once Happy carries Peter to bed and leaves the tower after making sure Tony is alright. She sits in the middle of their bed when Tony enters the bedroom; stares at him while he slowly climbs on the bed and sits directly in front of her. When he takes her hand, he notices how they shake in the slightest of trembles and so, he brings them to his lips all the while not removing his eyes from hers.

"I'm alright," he gently comforts, but Pepper takes her hands back and places her palms on either side of his face.

She doesn't say anything to Tony's words, but moves closer to him, straddling his lap in silence as she slowly cards her fingers through his hair, watching him watch her. Tony looks up at her, all the more beautiful in each passing day, and the thought of not seeing her, not being with her this way or any other is not an option. He won't have that. 

He lets go of a shaky breath when Pepper lightly places her forehead against his, and it takes a moment to realize that they are now breathing in sync while they stay against each other. Tony wants to remain just like this for as long as humanly possible, but JARVIS speaks ten minutes later, telling them Peter woke up in distress and is looking for Pepper. 

—

The silent treatment started when Peter woke up and wanted to talk to Pepper, continued through dinner when he barely even ate anything, and it is now in action when Tony's stepping into the room to say goodnight. The kid plays with the hem of the blanket as he puts it under his arms and stares down at his hands with a frown in his face.

"I'm not trying to ruin your life, you know," Tony quietly says as he sits on the bed, facing him. The silence continues for a moment longer, so with a small sigh he kisses Peter's forehead and stands from the bed. 

"I know, dad. I just want you to be safe." Peter answers as Tony reaches the door, and it means a lot more than he can describe that Peter is finally talking to him again. When he looks back at him, Peter's big brown eyes are staring right back. 

"I am, kid. Promise," Tony secures as he holds the doorknob. "Go to bed or I'll take you off the tower project." 

Tony catches the small smile Peter wears as he turns his back to the door and gets comfortable under his blanket. Tony leaves the door ajar. 

—

Rhodey makes his way into the city the next day, finding Happy setting Chinese food containers around the counter of the bar and Peter and Pepper helping Tony design the new tower for the team that Tony comes to appreciate a lot more than he imaged he would. Because a team they will be if it means preventing whatever is coming after this. Without warning, these people crawled their way into Tony's soft spot. It's not as life-threatening as he thought it'd be.

“I swear to God, Tony,” is the first thing Rhodey says to him with a mixture of exasperation and worry coated in his voice. Tony has a feeling Rhodey would’ve understood Peter’s distance and disbelief when he was refusing to speak to him through the phone until he made sure Tony was alive and well. 

When he is close enough to Tony, he pulls him into a hug. 

“Honeybear,” Tony greets with a grin as he pulls away. 

“I have never wanted to hit you so bad.” But Rhodey hugs him again and Tony can’t help but to surrender into it, realizing that he cannot live if something he can prevent happened to this very group that stands before him. 

—

Things take a turn shortly after they go back to Malibu. It’s simple, really. Anxiety and wormholes. No sleep and a rather quiet Peter resides the Malibu mansion. Tony doesn’t do therapy like Peter does. He doesn’t do it at all for that matter, but Peter is still not quite the same after all his sessions. Recovering from last summer’s experience might take a little more to bring the peace he knows is still far from arriving. He wants that for Peter but the kid isn’t at peace no matter what anymore.

Tony understands. 

—

"Dad, she is _not_ going to like that," Peter assures as he stands outside in the driveway with Tony. 

"What are you talking about? She's gonna love it." Tony is looking up at the giant bunny, very excited for Pepper to see it. He turns to face Peter who looks up at the bunny himself with his backpack over his shoulders and his hands holding onto the straps, looking so unenthused.

"Okay, it's your funeral," Peter shrugs as he shakes his head and starts walking inside. He looks far older than his actual eleven-year-old self and it's a bit unsettling to witness just how much he has grown. "I'm gonna study in my room," he calls out as he reaches the door, pulling Tony from his staring. 

"I thought you were on Christmas vacation!" Tony shouts after him. 

"Christmas has to end some time!" Peter's voice drifts back and then he's gone. Tony sighs and then looks up at the bunny again. 

"She's going to love it!" Tony confidently shouts one last time after Peter, both hands on his hips as he looks at it again. "No big brain competes with cute bunnies," he mumbles as he begins to walk into the house, wiping his hands of his good work. 

—

Tony makes a note to let Peter know that the rabbit wasn't too big, and that Pepper actually liked it, even if she hasn't officially said she does. That will show him, that little know-it-all he can't live without.

Pepper is straddling his lower back, massaging him as they are both on their bed after the best shower they’ve had in a while. When Tony mentions Peter's distance, Pepper points out Tony's irregularities might be affecting Peter's behavior towards him, and offers a different approach to get him to not be so unsettled and to trust Tony enough to talk to him again.

“Why don’t you set something up with Clarisa? She helped a whole lot after Afghanistan.”

“I’ll see.”

Pepper is hitting all the right spots on his back, and maybe Tony will be able to sleep tonight. He rests his head on top of his arms as he folds them in front of him and thinks for a moment on how to work this out between him and Peter. The kid doesn't spend a lot of time with him, even if they're both in the house. Peter eats his dinner and then excuses himself, or doesn't stay long in the room when it's just Tony with him. If he's not in school, he's outside, or breaking things apart he finds in the trash chute Tony set up specifically for junk from the lab. The kid builds from the ground up with the scraps he finds, tinkering and creating things. Just like Tony is doing. But Tony can't stop. He has to protect Peter, he has to protect Pepper. Tony stopping isn't an option and he knows his behavior is affecting Peter, that the kid is just like him, his better half, and that's just it. He's the _better part_. 

"He misses you, Tony."

“I’m right here, Pep.”

But even _he_ knows he hasn't been there for a long time. 

—

Pepper sleeps downstairs for two weeks after Tony calls the suit in his sleep and almost attacks her. He doesn’t call Clarisa but wants to try to get back on Peter’s good side again. When he’s about to knock at the kid’s door, JARVIS speaks overhead telling Tony there is a call from the hospital.

Apparently there was an explosion in the Chinese theater. Happy was present.

—

“How's the weather up there?”

When Tony came back from visiting Happy, he had asked JARVIS where Peter was and finds that he has been outside since he woke up, the beginning of his Christmas break spent in the sun. He is sitting at the top of the jungle gym’s bridge, legs softly dangling back and forth. There is a book in his hand and his Hulk notebook is opened beside him right by the half drunken water bottle and a family size bag of sunchips. If he's going to eat junk, Pepper will make sure it's at least the healthier kind.

“Hey,” Peter answers with a mild surprise in his tone as he looks down. Tony has one eye shut as he cups his forehead with his hand to prevent the sun from burning his eyes out as he stares upward. “What’s up?”

“I saw Happy today.”

Peter slowly sets the book down and Tony can’t see much of his expression as the sun beams above him. 

“How is he?”

“Stable. Wanna come down from there before I lose my eyesight?”

Peter comes down through the obstacles of the gym he knows like the back of his hand without a word and meets Tony on the grass. He gently ruffles Peter’s curls as the kid stands before him. 

“Your piano lessons are at the studio today, alright? Pepper or I will get you when you’re done. Car is waiting outside in two minutes."

“Why?”

Tony doesn’t answer and Peter looks to the side with a breath. When he looks back at Tony, he nods and doesn’t question anything further. They stare at each other for a moment, Peter casting his eyes downward when Tony tells him he will be in the studio for the remainder of his Christmas vacation. 

"You listening, Pete?"

“Yes sir,” he quietly concludes and begins to head back towards the jungle gym as he exhales a deep breath, but Tony stops him before he can get too far as he takes his hand.

Tony wants to go back in time and cheat, change things to work in favor of his relationship with his son. There is a missing piece, something out of place between them and Tony is afraid to make it worse if he tries to mend it. So he kneels in front of Peter, the kid’s surprise on his face both comical and heartbreaking. 

"I'm not trying to ruin your life, kid. You know that, right?" With his hands touching the side of Peter's head, hands messing with the few curls he touches, Peter doesn't respond. He nods and steps away towards the jungle gym again in silence. 

Peter can't be around when Tony is trying to figure out who almost killed his uncle Happy. Lessons in the studio are good, so as soon as he left the hospital, he arranged for Peter to go over to the studio instead of his teacher coming to the house. It's good. It's better this way.

“I’ll see you later, dad,” Peter announces as he is coming down the stairs with his backpack slinging over his shoulders when Ryan enters the mansion announcing the car is ready for departure. He became Happy’s stand-in while he took over head of security and now watches after Pepper. 

Ryan was recommended, trained and talked about the job of protecting Peter by one Happy Hogan so Tony is at ease with the hire. Peter likes him. They talk about school and his piano lessons during their rides. It was the few things Peter gave Tony when he asked him about Ryan when the guy first started. 

“Knock ‘em dead, kid.”

Peter gives him a small grin and walks out of the house with Ryan who confidentially confirms that the location where Peter is headed is secured and surrounded in case of anything taking place. He instructs Ryan to lose anybody that might be following them, and if he sees any helicopters above him to lose them also

"If I'm not available, Peter is to be returned to Pepper or Colonel Rhodes, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." 

With that, Ryan steps out. 

About two minutes and thirty second after Peter leaves the premises, Tony hears what he is sure are the news helicopters surrounding the property. 

Pepper walks in the house ten minutes after that, talking about leaving and trying to get Tony to come with her to get Peter. All Tony hears from their _discussion_ is that she doesn't like the bunny he got her. Peter is never to find out about that piece of information. Pepper insists on leaving and says she has the bags already in the car but Maya Hansen, an old friend, enters the living room while Pepper and him _discuss not_ leaving and slows things down for a moment. Her sudden appearance throws Tony in for a loop, and Pepper is not all too pleased with the arrival either but she is adamant about leaving the mansion, so she directs her attention back to Tony. He has no other choice but to pause on the Maya surprise and try to make her understand that they cannot leave until he figures out how to stop the guy who put Happy in the hospital.

"It's a great idea, Pepper. I'll drive," Maya says as she sides with Pepper on the not-happening-leave idea. 

But before he can respond to her suggestion, the first missile hits the house, Tony reacting almost in sync with it and calling the suit to go around Pepper. He doesn’t have time for anything else after that, just a small window of gratitude for Pepper's current safety and Peter taking after him and his grandmother with the piano. 

The house crumbles around them and almost on top of him, but Pepper saves his life, nothing new there, when she blocks half the ceiling from crushing him while still wearing the suit. There is no time to waste even if he wants to kiss her right there when the faceplate opens to her face with her "I got you" to him. God, he's in love. Right now, though, in love or not, they have to move. So they do as best as they can manage but when there is no way out and Tony is on the other side of the house with a massive broken floor between them, Pepper freezes. The house doesn't do as such as it crumbles around them with the second hit.

"Get Maya, I'm gonna find a way around." Pepper doesn't move though as she looks at Tony with a face that says she might jump over to get him. The walls shake and the floors keep crumbling everywhere now. She can't save him again, not without harming herself in the process. She has to save Maya and get Peter. "_Stop stopping, _get her, get outside. Get Peter." 

"Tony—"

"Go!"

—

“Pepper, it's me. I've got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time, so... first off, I'm so sorry I put you and Peter in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid and it won't happen again. Also, it's Christmas time. The rabbit's too big. Peter was right. Done. Sorry. And I'm sorry in advance because... I can't come home yet.”

—

It turns out the guy—_Killian_—that's in love with Pepper, going around showing off his big brain to her, is the guy responsible for Happy's current state and the house being blown up. In his search on how to stop him, he gets captured, escapes and is now loose on the premises with no flight power in his suit. He doesn’t know where Peter is either and tries not to panic because if Pepper is under Killian’s hold, Rhodey is flying all over the middle east, and Happy is in the hospital, where is Peter? Did Ryan follow through? Was he able to reach Pepper before she got capture? If so, does Killian have Peter? He moves around the house as he spots the War Machine armor flying off so he calls Rhodey who answers on the first ring. 

“Tell me that was you in the suit,” Tony starts.

“No, you got yours?”

“Uh, sort of. Meet me in the main house. There’s someone I want you to meet.”

—

Once they get on the speedboat, have a solid plan for Pepper and speak to the Vice President, he asks Rhodey if he knows anything on Peter's location.

“Ryan brought him to the base after the explosion when he saw on the news that Pepper was in the mansion too. I flew him out to the tower. He’s with Bruce.”

God, Tony has never been so grateful for Rhodey like he is in this moment, the man setting up and steering the speedboat. Ryan will also get his own car and an extra week paid vacation.

“You know, Pepper and I aren’t official yet.”

“What do you mean? You _ live _together. Peter slips and calls her 'mom' all the time.”

“I’m just saying, honeybear,” Tony says as he approaches Rhodey by the steering wheel, “we could make something happen.”

“I. Hate. You. Go. Save. The. President.”

“I like it when you’re bossy,” Tony says as he walks away and adjusts the headset around his head, the armor coming off him. He turns back to see Rhodey shake his head with a grin on his face. 

Peter is safe. All that’s left to do is get Pepper before it’s too late.

—

Snapshots. No warning, no remorse. 

When Tony tries to rescue Pepper, she falls 200 feet into the flames. Tony feels his body weakening as he sees her face in desperation with her hand out for him to take. 

But Pepper, with her Peter Stark trait of always impressing him and leaving him speechless, saves the day. Again. This time there’s a lot more punching than usual. 

—

After Tony has surgery to remove the reactor altogether, Happy is awake and recovering, Pepper is all sorted out and the Extremis is out of her system, the Starks move into the Avengers tower. Pepper isn't entirely too affected since travels have been more frequent lately. It's Peter that loves the beach and is still trying to make peace with the jungle gym and sunny 70 degree weather being left behind. Tony understands the sentiment. He's going to miss it over there too. That's the house Peter grew up in, took his first step, said his first words, destroyed and built and colored on the walls. Peter, who is still not on great terms with Tony as he finally decided to seek the professional help he's been avoiding. 

Once Tony bores Bruce into sleep, he decides to continue to spread the joy and find Peter before he has to go to his session. When JARVIS tells him that he is unpacking with Pepper in his room, Tony makes his way over but stops right at the door when he hears their voices.

“...It’s not so bad. In orientation, I made a friend. His name is Ned. He’s cool.”

“That’s good, Peter. You guys exchanged numbers and such?”

“I don’t have a phone, Pepper and dad would kill me if I give his number out to someone I don’t even know.” 

Tony stays behind the door and is about to walk in when he hears Peter ask Pepper a question about Tony's well being. Pepper remains silent and Peter continues to ask when she does, slightly stuttering when he starts asking Pepper for the truth. 

“He’s not okay, is he?”

“I promise he's fine, sweetie. You should talk to him. He has a session with his therapist today, did you know?"

"Yeah? That's good. I really hope it can help. He doesn't sleep, Pepper. He thinks I don't know but I know. He doesn't eat either. He can just..pass out any moment."

"He's better, Peter. I promise. Don't cry, hey, it's alright."

Tony doesn’t wait to hear the kid crying because of him. He can't do that to the little bit of hope he has in rekindling something remotely close to what he had with Peter so he knocks on the door, peaking his head through it and finds Pepper hugging Peter, their arms around each other. 

“What’s going on?” Tony enters the room as Peter lets go of Pepper and turns on his back as he faces his bed and starts folding his clothes as he takes them out of the luggage. Tony hears his sniffling but doesn't say anything on the matter. 

“I’m going to get ready for tomorrow. I’ll see you at dinner, Peter?”

Peter nods without turning, folding what’s in his hand. Pepper looks at Tony and with her blue eyes and a signal of her head, encourages him to talk to the kid, stepping out of the room and closing the door behind her. Tony stands closer to the door, hands in his pockets and rocking lightly on his heels. 

“Need any help?”

“What? Oh, no. Thank you.”

“You find everything okay? This room is fine?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Tony moves next to Peter, and notices his tears are still falling down his face but he keeps folding. He doesn’t say anything and sits on the bed, staring at Peter as he silently carries on with what he’s doing. 

“Peter.”

But Peter doesn’t answer. He folds his shirt and sets it aside on the bed next to the pile of clothes he seems to have categorized. Pepper’s hands seem to be all over that.

“Pete, hey.”

A sniffle and a small breath comes from the kid, and Tony can’t help to see that even though Peter is eleven, he carries himself with a much older demeanor than his actual age. Tony doesn’t let Peter reach the next piece of clothing because he moves the luggage that's in front of the kid and pushes it back, and takes his place. Tony is staring right at him now, the kid chewing the inside of his mouth and casting his eyes down to the floor as he begins to play with the hem of his sweater. Tony gently lifts his head up by his chin with his hand and locks his eyes on Peter. 

“Everything is going to be alright.” Peter doesn't answer, doesn’t move his eyes from Tony’s either. “You understand?” 

Peter nods and looks down again. Tony knows him too well though. Too well.

“Peter,” Tony begins again, lifting his head up one more time, “I’m fine, you’re fine, Pepper is fine.”

But Peter incredulously narrows his eyes at Tony and takes a step back. He looks like he's trying to understand what Tony is saying and before Tony can try to explain, Peter speaks. He speaks. 

“You don't get it, do you? The house _blew_ up with you in it, dad. You were _kidnapped_ by the person that _blew up_ our _house_. You were _dead for two days_ and I was stuck with Mr. Banner without knowing anything! That’s not _ okay_! You’re _ always _ missing or _ dying _and that—it hurts to not know if I’m ever going to see you again. That—that scares me, dad. And yeah, you always come back but what if you don't? Why can't you just..not go?"

Peter says this all too composed for Tony’s liking, not because it punches Tony right in his mouth but because it looks like Peter is in so much pain saying them. Peter’s voice is in a quiet, quavering tone, staring at Tony as if trying to beg him into understanding where he is coming from. His thick tears fall nonetheless, leaving Tony speechless. Because leave it to Peter to never fail to have that affect on him. 

“My heart hurts so much, dad. So much.” Peter's last words come out in an actual cry as he drops his head, looking so defeated and broken as his shoulders shake. Sure, Peter can be mature for his age but right in that moment he had never looked so small, so in need of protection, of reassurance. 

Tony reaches his hand out and brings Peter in for a tight hug because that’s all he can do that won’t hurt him anymore. 

They stay in Peter's room for an hour and Tony listens. Most of the things bothering the kid derives from Tony's well being and the constant anxiety of watching Tony walk out of the door and never knowing if it's the last time he's seeing him, or leaving one day for school and find the house destroyed and Tony is dead inside it. Which he experienced already. It almost brings Tony's to tears to hear him say all of this. So after they're done, he offers Peter to come to therapy with him. He takes him up on the offer. 

They do sessions together twice a week and individual one once a week for both of them. It's easy when he does it for Peter, and it's even better when the results, though not instant and slow, are promising. He just wants his son back, wants to be with him, be his friend, his confidant again. He hopes they can get at least some of that back. 

—

April has been a lot kinder than Tony had ever experienced in a while. Things feel a bit more normal, though there are new dynamics and recovery is a long process, Tony feels alright. Peter is much better, and that's all that really matters. Tonight, for the first time since the Battle of New York, he has a date with Peter to lay under the clouds before bed. 

"If you're not ready, it's okay dad. I just..I don't know, want you to know that my door is always open for you too," were his words when they were clearing the counter off plates after dinner. Tuesdays with Tony, Thursdays with Pepper and today, Tuesday, Tony is going to finish his day with his kid even if it's the last thing he does. 

He walks over to Peter’s room and finds the kid staring at the clouds above him. Tony enters without saying a word and lays down next to him. Immediately, Tony spots the one shaped like a bird and the beating of his heart slows back to normal at the sight of Peter next to him, staring up trying to see what Tony points out. The clouds can't hurt him; these don't open into a black hole. These represent the best decision of his life and he'll be dammed if he lets the world rip that away from him.

“That’s definitely a bird, alright,” Peter confirms under his breath, “say, dad, do you think Mr. Thor would let me wield the hammer?”

Tony laughs, hard and full, because of course that’s what’s on Peter’s mind. 

“Why are you laughing? I’m serious!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, super nervous about this chapter.  
I had changed it so many times but I've done all I can do. I hope you liked it though.  
Talk to me in the comments, tell me what you thought!  

> 
> Go be happy.


	5. Cassandra

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My lords, I had to split a chapter in two because it was just too long so now it's 11 chapters! It should be, like, 24 for that matter lol but we'll see as I review before posting. 
> 
> Either way, enjoy what's ahead!  
This is a little different but so full.  
You'll see what I mean when you get to it.

* * *

Sokovia fell and even though Vision, the artificial intelligence that was supposed to be the first and last, is now part of the team, an entire _country_ got destroyed into oblivion. Tony has to go back and deal with the contingencies of his actions, all the casualties—greater than they’ve ever encountered...God, clean up is going to be the worst of all at this meeting. Bruised and tired, he heads to the penthouse for a shower and when the elevator doors open to the living room, he finds Peter on the couch, leg still in that stupid brace from Ultron’s grand entrance that night of the party. His other leg is shaking with a nervous bounce and he seems to be biting his thumbnail. Tony stops at the sight, the kid's worry apparent miles away. 

“Don’t bite your nails, kid.”

At the sound of his voice, Peter’s head fastens towards him and he stands, limping over without his crutches to meet Tony, who makes his life easier and meets him halfway. 

“Dad,” is all he says in a shaky voice when he crashes against him. He hugs Tony just as tight as he always does since New York. Tony has been waiting to see if with therapy Peter would diminish his intensity when it comes to his embraces to Tony’s comings and goings, but no.

That’s one thing that has stayed consistent since. He guesses it's only fair since his consistency in being Iron Man also remained. Tony doesn’t mind the hugs either way. He always hugs just as tight as Peter does. 

When Peter pulls away and looks up at him, his eyes are asking a million questions with their worry and fear blatantly displayed, and Tony tries to offer a small comforting smile but even he feels how forced it is. 

“I heard about Wanda’s brother..How is she?”

Tony cups the side of Peter’s face and leads him to the couch, the kid limping to his seat. He looks up at Tony with expectant eyes as the man sits at the edge of the coffee table so he faces Peter directly. He drops his head feeling how nothing is quite right; the thought of things taking such a turn from such a good plan is suffocating. Ultron was supposed to protect the world and instead..

It's all Tony's fault. Simple. He has no idea if therapy is ever going to be able to help him live with this one. 

“Not so good, kid. It’ll be a while before she can be okay, but she will get there.”

She has no choice but to. Tony exhales a breath as he looks to the side, towards the floor-to-ceiling windows and tries to organize his thoughts now before he has to head to upstate. 

“Pepper told me what happened with Dr. Banner," Peter continues in a gentle tone, "it’s okay. He’ll be back," he finishes too sure for Tony's liking. 

Tony had called Pepper on his way back from Sokovia, almost in the quietest of tears when he heard her voice. Because all of this happened due to what he did, because of what he created. No one seems to understand though—whether Ultron was a success or not, whether he had served his purpose the first time or not, it would’ve been his head on the guillotine. No one hears him when he says that the fight, the _real_ fight isn’t over yet. It hasn’t even _started_. They have to be diligent, they have to prepare, they have to stay together—_all of them,_ and now, now..

“God...” It comes out broken, like a plea, a desperate prayer because he has no idea if any of that sort of thing works and he sure hopes if Odin can help, that he intervenes because Tony is tired. 

“It’s going to be okay, dad. He’ll be back. Everything will work out.”

Peter takes Tony’s hand in his and squeezes it, the older man’s eyes watering at the sight of Peter, at the thought of Bruce just..gone, Pietro on the helicarrier and Wanda inconsolable by his side with Clint and Vision at hers. 

Tony knows things usually have a way of working themselves out, he wants to assure the kid that he knows that, but he has always prepared for plan B in case they don’t. And plan B has always been needed to be put to use. 

**A Week Ago**

Things are going well, Tony thinks. He points them out in specifics to distract the distress he is experiencing at the moment. 

The team lives in the Tower, just a couple of floors below the Stark's residence.

Cap returned after SHIELD fell and the search for the scepter began.

Natasha came out of hiding and rejoined the team in their search. 

Peter and Bruce are best friends, Tony’s still not sure how to take that—the kid needs his own friends. They become the new Science buddies in the tower. 

Single therapy ended for Tony a week ago, and Peter and he attend their last session together tomorrow. 

Pepper is growing weary and tired of Tony’s incapability to stop. It all varies from the raiding parties with the team that can’t stop because the scepter must be found, to the suits needing maintenance, to creating obsessively again, and to construct things that can protect. Protect protect protect. 

His fight with Pepper has him all disoriented so he walks out of the room, scratching his head and hanging up the phone. There seems to be more fights than conversations as of late, and Tony knows it’s not because of the constant distance that there's been recently. Right now, he wishes she was near or that he could go where she is, but she was clear on her needing her space so Tony will comply and try to distract himself in the meantime. 

When he quietly steps inside Peter’s bedroom and finds his bed empty, he asks JARVIS of the kid’s whereabouts, surprising no one when he’s found in Bruce’s lab with Bruce himself an hour past his bedtime. 

“Where’s Steve?” he asks, rubbing his temples with his hands as he takes a deep breath and starts to head out of the room.

“In the kitchen on the Avengers common floor, would you like me to tell him you’re looking for him?”

“Ask him if he’s up for a little challenge.”

Steve thinks Peter can do no wrong and Tony is appreciative of the compliment, all of the avengers loving Peter the same way. No shock there. So, he uses their adoration for him to get Peter to stay inside the lines and sends Steve to get him from the lab. He always listens to Captain America in the most comedic way there is to do that. When Tony watches the way Peter's respect for Steve borders a hilarious course of action from the kid, the laughter lasts for hours. He almost heads downstairs to watch Peter's face fall at the sound of Captain America telling him to head back to bed. 

Waiting in front of the elevator of the penthouse, JARVIS tells Tony Peter should be arriving in a few seconds. The elevator doors open just as JARVIS said they would and Peter’s face is buried in paperwork as he struggles to keep them together between his chin and his hands. 

“Heeeey thereeee, daaad,” he says through the pile as Tony stands before him with his arms crossed over his chest and his one eyebrow raised in questioning, not at all amused.

“It’s okay," Peter says drily as he steps out of the elevator, barely managing the hold on the paperwork, "don’t worry. I got it.”

Tony rolls his eyes and takes half the paperwork from him, Peter breathing easier as he adjusts his glasses so they don't fall off his face. It’s been a couple of years since his eyesight started to gradually weaken, and even though Pepper taught him about contacts after breaking his third pair of glasses, living by the walking disaster he is half the time—like father, like son—Tony prefers the thick frames on him over the contact lenses.

When they head to the coffee table, Tony setting some of the paperwork on it as Peter does the same with the rest but one, he is glancing over the things scribbled in the kid’s handwriting from the pieces Tony is still holding. Peter is wearing the labcoat Pepper got him for Christmas last year and his hair is all in disarray as he begins explaining to Tony about his sudden rise from sleep, Tony noticing his pajamas under his lab coat in that instant and glancing from the piece of paper to Peter. His hands are going all over the place while he speaks, his eyes wide and glistening with excitement and revelation. Tony is trying to figure out what he and Bruce were doing up at this time and then notices one of the pieces he picked up has a printout of Mary, one of _her_ papers, and another of her articles about cross-species genetics.

“That’s great, kid and I hear ya, I really do,” Tony starts, bringing his eyebrows together and completely caught off guard at what he’s reading while trying to give Peter his attention as well, “but if you keep staying with the team past your bedtime, I’m gonna have to take drastic measures.”

Peter’s “I understand, dad but look. I found _this_,” seems unavoidable as he moves closer to Tony and points at the article he is trying to connect with Peter’s sudden wake from slumber. 

“What is this? This is—cross-genetics? What?”

“Well, okay. So I googled my mom, my birth mom—”

“Wait, _what_?” Tony looks at Peter and sets the paperwork on the coffee table. He takes the remaining one from Peter’s hands and sets it down as well. 

The nonchalance is something that Tony can never get over when Peter speaks of Mary. That is the one thing he did right with the kid: his mother was always a bright light, brilliant and good. Peter was to never feel any sort of heaviness at the mention of her or memory of her that the kid, unfortunately, doesn't really have of her; Tony made sure he knew what she looked like and what she did. Pepper did too and he knows it’s because of Ms. Potts that Peter is as good as he is regarding this subject.

“Yeah, so Dr. Banner—Mr. Hulk—Bruce—we were doing research after we went over his gamma radiation papers and he mentioned you guys were talking about my mom and how Dr. Banner was following her research until she disappeared, _ so_,” Peter takes a deep breath, a long one and then breaks off into his explanation again about finding Mary and looking into her research with Connors before he died and after. He tells Tony there isn’t much on what they accomplished but he is sure between Bruce and him, they can follow it up. 

“Wait a second,” Tony cuts him off, waving his hands in front of him as he closes his eyes so he can regroup and understand for a moment. He looks to Peter again, narrowing his stare when he does and leaning forward just a bit as if check if he heard the kid right. “Did you just say you read _Banner’s research_?”

Peter nods his head enthusiastically, adjusting his glasses from how hard he does it. "After school, yeah."

“And you _ understood _ it?”

“Well, about 85% of it. The rest he had to explain to me, but yeah pretty much!”

Tony stands straight and lets out a low whistle with his hands on his hips, genuinely impressed. But it's Peter. He's good at having this effect on Tony. 

“We’re going to see how far this thing can go very soon, capisce?” Tony states as he gently taps the top of Peter’s head, eliciting a small chuckle from the kid. “But right now, we’re going to bed and continuing this conversation tomorrow.” Tony turns him around and on his heels from his shoulders. 

“I need those, though,” Peter begins to say when he whirls around as he tries to reach for the pieces of paper on the table, but Tony blocks his reach and turns him around on his feet again.

“You think I don’t know you? You’ll stay up all night, sending secret messages with JARVIS to Bruce. Nuh-uh. Bed.”

Peter groans, dropping his head back as Tony pushes him towards his room, hands still on the kid's shoulder. 

“I won’t, I promise!”

“Tomorrow, Peter.”

“But it’s T_hursday _ tomorrow, it’s my day with Pepper,” he replies dropping his head back to see Tony’s face while the latter still pushes him to his room by his shoulders. 

“Pepper is in California. Gets back Friday, remember?”

Peter’s sudden stop makes Tony bump right against him from behind and the kid turns around to face Tony, a sudden worry across his face. Tony steps aside and opens Peter’s bedroom door as they reach it, stepping in. Peter follows. 

“What? She usually tells me when she’s not going to make it. Is everything okay?”

“Yes, kid,” Tony appeases, grabbing Peter by his arms as they stand by his bed. “She called today and told me to tell you she won’t be back till Friday. Now, shower and bed. Come on.”

“So,” Peter slowly says as he walks over to the other side of the room. He takes off his coat and hangs it by the coat rack that’s by his desk. He turns around to face Tony when he’s in front of his mattress and slams his hands on it. “_You _ didn’t tell me,” he accuses. Tony rolls his eyes at him and his dramatics. 

“I was going to tell you—Peter,” Tony breathes out, shutting his eyes and remembering the fact that he doesn’t have to explain anything to the guilty one, who happens to be Peter, “bed. Now.”

“I thought I was supposed to shower _ first, father_,” the kid answers as he raises his eyebrow, with both fists resting on his hips, and Tony now feels like he’s staring in a mirror. Peter stares at him for a moment longer until he realizes Tony is caught up in the sight before him. 

It hits him occasionally, he realizes. He has a son. He has a great son, who looks after him and looks up to him, and sometimes can be just like him. As the kid grows, the more like Tony he becomes but Tony won’t ever stop noticing how much better of a version he is if he’s anything like Tony Stark. In this moment, he wells up at the affection and pride that resides in him for one Peter J. Stark. 

Peter though, misses this entirely and the whole act, laughter behind his eyes and easy conversation depletes from him.

“Dad, you okay?”

Tony shakes his head and chuckles at the brief loss for words as Peter walks over to him. With a hand on Peter’s shoulder and squeezing it gently, all he gives the kid is a small grin. 

“I love you very much. You’re a really good kid, you know that?”

Peter’s eyes widen at Tony’s words and he stutters a bit before he answers back with an “uh, thanks, dad. That’s, uh..—thank you. You know all you love about me I learned from you, right? Seriously.”

Tony just smiles at him, kissing the top of his head. 

“Good kids also shower and get to bed on time,” Tony supplies with a big put-on smile this time as he drapes his hand over Peter’s face, who laughs and falls back on the bed with Tony’s light push. As he begins to step out of the room, he continues speaking. “Ten minutes. Shower and then bed. Bed for good, Stark,” he orders as he holds the doorknob, “or I’m sending Bruce to the Forbidden Forest or whatever.”

Peter’s laughing fit in the middle of his “noooooo!” is all Tony hears when he shuts the door behind him, the smile on his lips as he heads to the Avengers floor to talk to Bruce and Steve about Peter’s bedtime and curfew on school nights the sweetest he’s felt all day. 

When Tony goes to find Bruce and Steve, he finds them with the rest of the team, Thor always absent since Jane Foster is in New York. Tony understands his departures to see her more than anyone. 

“Did he go down with a fight?” Steve asks from where he’s sitting on the couch next to Natasha, who is nursing a mug between her hands. Tony drops on the loveseat across from them as Clint and Bruce enter the TV room. 

“Popcorn is popped, _now_ can we watch?” Barton asks as he sits by Natasha’s feet, who gives the green light as she takes the bowl of popcorn from Barton's hands. 

“Nah, he’ll be asleep soon. Say, Bruciebear, can you not encourage the wake ups in the middle of the night? He’s a growing boy. Sleep is sort of important.” Tony places a hand over his face as he speaks, shutting his eyes as he feels a headache coming on.

“I’m sorry but he came to me with some really good observations. He’s quite the brain. Might be better than you.”

“He is,” Tony answers through his covered face. 

“His ideas are a bit out there, but considering who his father is and who his mother was, it’s perfectly normal. The kid is brilliant. It’—you guys have to see him. Cho would have a field day with him.”

Tony grins through his hidden lips behind his hand and says nothing of the matter because what more can he add. 

“Helen Cho? You’re comparing him to Helen Cho?” Barton asks as he browses through the movie selection once Natasha decides she doesn’t care what they watch, trying to enjoy the only night off before they’re off on the search again. 

“I’m telling you,” Bruce continues, Tony hearing the ruffle of the popcorn being taken out of the bowl and then Bruce’s words around a full mouthful of it, Tony is sure. “He’s gonna change the world.”

Tony wishes he could feel better about that statement. He stays quiet. 

He doesn’t stay for the movie. He tries to sleep instead. 

**Now**

Tony travels often to those memories considering what happens right after. Almost immediately right after. 

“Hey, dad.”

Tony looks to Peter and slowly stands from his spot on the coffee table, telling him he’s going to head to the shower since he has to be gone in about two hours. Maybe he’ll take the chopper there instead of the drive, bring Peter with him too. 

“You’re here by yourself, kid?”

Peter shakes his head from the couch when Tony turns around before he disappears into the corridors and to his room. 

“Happy’s downstairs getting something for Pepper. We were going to go get her from the airport in a half-hour.”

“That’s right,” he recalls, sighing. Pepper. Not knowing how that's going to end is what's going to send him over the edge at this point. 

Silence follows after that. That all too familiar, almost all too powerful silence that has liked the Stark residence since Obadiah’s attempts at eliminating them, but Tony fought to be louder than its deafening presence. And then palladium came and tried to encourage it. Tony screamed. And then New York and he let it win, until Killian came for everything he had and Tony had to break out. 

And now here he is, feeling it tapping his shoulders for a visit.

“We can talk..if you want.”

The sound of Peter’s voice is what makes him realize he stood midwalk to his room thinking about the quiet that’s coming. He knows Pepper isn’t going to be very pleased with the way things turned out, but what’s done is done. He's afraid that her silence might try to make its first entrance this time around. That her absence will be part of it too. 

Tony nods Peter’s way and heads to the room. 

He lets the shower pressure almost hurt him, but nothing takes all the guilt he feels from his chest. 

Facing the mirror, fully dressed, Tony picks up his watch and slowly places it on his wrist. He doesn’t turn at the sound of the knock on the door, but he hears the click of the crutches and Tony shuts his eyes because the vivid image of Peter flying across the room and Thor having to fly over to get him sometimes chokes him on sight. 

“Hey. Happy left.”

Tony looks down at his watch and grabs his phone as he places it in his pocket, then moves over to the jacket he set on his bed and slides his arms through it. 

“Dad.”

The exhaustion he feels is staggering but Tony has not time to let that run its course. There is never time, just the next part of the process. 

“_Please_, don’t shut me out. We—I can—you can _talk_ to me. I can handle it, just..don’t shut me out again.”

It’s soft-spoken but the desperation and fear make it the loudest thing Peter has ever expressed to Tony. 

“Talk to me.”

They stare at each other. Silence follows and then..

“I’m tired. I’m tired, Peter.” Tony shrugs, the defeat heavy on his shoulders as he does it. It becomes so much he has to sit down, letting out a shaky breath. “It doesn’t matter what I do, or for what, kid. Somehow you end up paying for it, or someone else—or everybody else.”

Peter moves over to the foot of the bed where Tony sits and puts his arm around his father’s shoulders. Tony lowers his head for a moment and notices how he picked up Peter’s habit when he begins messing with his hands, so absentmindedly, just like Peter does. 

“Can I be the first to say that...This all sucks.”

Tony snaps his head toward him as he keeps his arm around Tony’s shoulders and stares straight ahead into nothing in particular. He gives a slight shrug when he looks Tony’s way. 

“It all sucks, dad. You’re right. You should be tired. It’s crappy.”

Tony, staring at those brown eyes so very similar to his, can only nod and doesn’t know why but he’s surprised at the kid’s response. Then again, it’s Peter. Leave it to him to always impress one Tony Stark. 

“I’ll tell you this, though,” he continues, looking straight ahead, arm still around Tony’s shoulders and very at ease, “it’s us.”

Tony hasn’t moved his eyes from Peter, who doesn’t look at Tony again while he speaks. 

“If anything can be changed for the better, it’s _our_ duty to try and do just that. We have the power, so the responsibility falls on us.”

Leave it to Peter. Leave it to him.

Maybe it’s because Tony still sees him as this little kid who tried to be a sloth, and wrote on the walls, and knew nothing other than Tony, his uncles and Pepper. But Peter is growing and for an almost 14-year-old boy, this is one of the truest and yet saddest things Tony has ever heard him say.

He looks to Tony this time and carries on. 

“You mess up everywhere, all the time. Sure. _But_,” he says with a small shake of his head and a soft chuckle while his hand tightens around Tony's shoulder as he pulls him a bit closer to him, “Mr, Stark, you always keep going. You always get back up. _Always_. I’m talking..yeah, _always_. You mess up but you learn from it and do your best to not repeat those mistakes. That’s just..it’s _inspiring_, dad! You’re a _great_ guy and this was a big thing that happened—an _accident—_that..I couldn’t even _imagine_ what the people of Sokovia are going through but they know, just like _I_ know, just like the _world_ looks at you and _knows: _there is no other way to go but forward.”

Tony’s eyes water because Peter sighs with a fierce yet gentle finality, a lopsided grin and a small shrug afterward, and says nothing else. With a shattering breath, Tony drops his forehead on Peter’s, the kid shutting his eyes at the gesture while Tony’s throat closes shut and begins to hurt from how much he wants to cry. He places his hand at the back of Peter’s neck, squeezing reassuringly and feeling so grateful at such an indecent time to feel so, he almost shuts it down. 

But how can he? When he has Peter here to pick him like this? Asking for nothing in return but that he'd just _do it_, that he keeps going? How can he overlook his gratitude with his son's untainted belief in his father’s abilities to do the right thing, to _be_ the right person? Peter, the light in his life always lighting up the darkest places in Tony’s soul. The man takes a deep breath and sits straight, Peter still wearing his side grin and wiping Tony’s tears, unaware they had fallen. He smiles when Peter does it and follows his silent instructions when the kid leans back on the bed, moving towards the head of it to rest his leg and patting the open space next to him. 

“FRIDAY, can you display the clouds, please?” Peter asks when Tony is settled next to him, staring directly at the ceiling, and automatically, the room lights up just like all the times before this and the clouds make it feel as if they were laying on the grass outside. 

The silence that enters isn’t heavy and tormenting, and Tony breaks it at the sight of a cloud shaped like a flower. 

“Start from the beginning,” Peter patiently instructs afterward while staring at the display too.

Tony sighs and in one swift motion, feeling the safest he's felt since Pepper's and Rhodey's company, he begins from the very beginning. The raiding party on Strucker and finding the twins, the vision Wanda planted and the decision to create Ultron without the team’s knowing due to it. He apologizes to Peter for the broken leg at the party and for having to disappear for those few hours after Wanda got a hold of Banner. He doesn’t mention Clint’s safe house but mentions Nick Fury and Bruce’s discovery with Helen Cho. When he tells him about Bruce—from the destruction of Johannesburg to the last time he was seen, Peter goes quieter than usual. Tony empathizes with him because that was his friend too. So they remain silent for a minute, just breathing and staring at the clouds above him. 

“What happened next?” Peter quietly questions after the moment passes. 

“Sokovia fell, kid and Pietro risked his life for Clint’s.” 

Peter doesn’t speak after. They stay silent again, staring up until Tony has to go.

“You wanna come with me upstate? Last chance to see if Thor lets you lift the hammer,” Tony says as he sits up and off the bed. Peter stares at him with his hands on his stomach and doesn’t respond. “What?” Tony quietly asks, tilting his head to the side as he puts his hands in his front pockets. 

“What are you gonna do?”

“I’m going to step back. For real this time.”

“Retire. It’s called retiring, dad.”

With a small smirk on his lips, Tony nods. Though the taste is bittersweet, he has to. He has to work from the sidelines. He's done.

“Not giving up, just working on absolute necessities,” he says out loud, more to himself than Peter. 

Peter props himself up on his elbows and then sits on the bed. 

“I like it. Can I help?”

“Bruce is _adamant _ about you changing the world. So we’ll see.”

The smile on Peter’s face lights up the entire room, and in a haste, he starts to get off the bed as Tony tells him to slow down and going around to him to hand him his crutches.

“My lenses are so dry, do I have time to change them? Two minutes.”

“Chopper will be ready in ten. Take your time.”

“Oh, God,” Peter says as he’s walking out of the room with Tony behind him, FRIDAY shutting down as they leave, “we’re _flying_? Yes!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That moment in Tony's bedroom wrecked me. Love them so much.  
I cannot WAIT to experience the rest of these chapters with you, oh my gosh. 
> 
> Anyway, yes! Talk to me in the comments :)<3000
> 
> Go be happy.


	6. This is How You Walk On

“Boss, Peter is entering the tower."

Tony waves a hand to the ceiling with a grunt and finishes the last of his drink. He’s aware he hasn’t been so intricate with scotch like this in a very long time, and maybe that’s why he’s this intoxicated this quickly. He processes what FRIDAY tells him a second too late, having lost track of time and count of glasses he had promised he wasn’t going to surpass. So stumbling and trying his best to walk straight, Tony stands from the stool by the peninsula, with no time to hide the evidence that caused his current state. The panic rises as he attempts to move with urgency to his bedroom and makes it to the door just in time to hear Peter calling out for him. 

Tony drops on the ground by the foot of the bed, miscalculating the distance he measured when he tries to reach for it with his hand. He groans as he rolls on his back and lays on the ground for a moment. He can hear Peter calling his name out closer and closer, so Tony manages to sit up and hold on to whatever corner of the bed he can grab. The struggle is the most consistent thing in this whole adventure. 

“Mr. Stark, are you here oooorrrrrr?!”

With his elbow on the bed and realizing he isn’t going anywhere, let alone hide his state from Peter, Tony sighs when the kid opens the door. 

“Hey, what cha doing down there?" Peter seems to be clueless for all of two seconds but asks Tony again if he is alright with a lot more concern in his voice the second time.

Tony notices Peter is crouched directly in front of him, hovering over and asking if he’s hurt and not giving Tony ample time to answer each and every question the kid asks. Back to back, mighty fast if Tony may add. 

“Fine. 'M fine.” Even Tony can hear the slurs as he tries to stand but can’t feel his legs so he plops back on the ground, giving up his attempts, unlike Peter who continues where Tony leaves off.

“Dad, are you..are you _drunk_?” Peter manages to place Tony on the mattress, on his back, the kid's slightly labored breathing coming across his question. 

The shame that washes over his body as he lays there, completely out of control as he tries to keep his eyes open makes him want to throw up—or maybe that’s the scotch. Either way, nausea announces itself and Tony feels the right side of the bed sinking beside him. 

“Dad? Wake up. Are you okay? You think you can make it to the bathroom? You're gagging and freaking me out.”

Tony opens his eyes, very slowly and with great effort to find two floating Peter heads, glasses at the bridge of his nose and curls everywhere. He wants to smile at the sight, he feels it upon his lips a little bit and tries to raise his hand to pat the Peters' cheeks but his arm tires before he even finishes the thought of doing so. 

“Kid, you alright? You coming or not?”

“Happy, hey, uh dad is..”

Tony is almost positive he hears Happy curse under his breath and then suddenly is also being hoisted up by his waist and off the bed. Mm. He continues to hear Happy's voice, and it's giving Peter instructions that don’t require the kid to be in the room. That much Tony can make sense out of. 

“But—”

Tony must be worse than he thought because he can’t even formulate a response to Peter's protest. But Happy, just like Rhodey, just like..Pepper, they always seem to be on the same page when it came to the kid’s well being. 

“Peter, he’s alright. Make a fresh pot of coffee and bring me a glass of milk. Come on.”

Peter’s protests don’t come again after that.

“A little more, there we go.” Happy’s voice is giving instructions to Tony this time, ahhh. Yes. He feels the cold tiles from the bathroom underneath him. This is the bathroom, right?

Two Happys are looking up at him as he feels their hands on the side of his face, smacking him lightly. “Yup. Bathroom. Boss, hey. You in there?”

Tony tries to focus but it’s futile so he nods, gags again and nods again. Gags. 

“Alright, you’ll be alright in no time. I got you.”

Happy Hogan trait. It’s unmistakable. He's here. 

“No..Peter,” he forces himself to enunciate apparently not doing a very good job since Happy asks more than twice what he’s trying to say, finally comprehending when Tony states it slowly with all his might as he tries not to throw up in between the words. 

“You got it. Here, lean your head like this and I’ll tell Peter to wait outside.”

“ansss, 'appy.”

That Happy responds to without signs of struggle after he props Tony’s head to lean against the toilet seat. He comes back in what Tony is sure is less than a second and begins to try to get Tony to finish a whole _eight_ ounces of _milk_. He swore off dairy, and Happy _knows_ this. They did it _together_. 

“I know, but you need this.”

He’s going to fire him. Happy is so fired. 

“You’ll never have to see me again after you drink this, come on.”

Agh, he's just bluffing but he's really mad at him right now because it’s just, ugh, dairy makes him all queasy. 

“Don’t worry, boss. We’ll deal with it when it comes. Drink some more, almost done.”

He sure hopes Happy doesn’t leave. He can’t handle another person thinking they are better off without him. Happy has to give him time to change. He can _do_ it, oh God. He can _change_. It's just..He can do it. He'll change. He knows he’s not the best choice, certainly not the first either and even though Pepper and him taking a break was a mutual thing and no one's fault, watching her all moved out today hurt _so _bad. It hurt so bad...God, it feels like someone is ripping his heart out. Right from his chest. The burning sensation that takes place immediately after the thought relieves him in the slightest but the ache in his chest is very much alive, eating at him from the inside out. 

“It’s alright, Tony. I promise you, you’ll get through this.”

He’s aware that he’s crying against Happy’s chest because he feels that if he lets go, he’ll spiral down and never come back up. 

“I got you, boss. I'm not going anywhere. I got you.”

—

Tony wakes up shirtless in his room surrounded by complete darkness.

“Lights,” he calls as he sits up. They burn his eyes as he acknowledges the headache that feels as if it’s going to run its course for the rest of his _ life_, dear _God._ When he asks for the low lights instead, he sees the aspirin and the glass of water that was left behind on the night table, and immediately takes action

“FRIDAY, where’s Peter?”

“He’s in the dining room currently doing his homework with Colonel Rhodes. Would you like me to tell him you’re looking for him?”

Tony shakes his head with a soft "no" as he drinks the entire glass of water and recalls, vaguely, one Happy Hogan in the premises as well. Or was that just a figment of his imagination? 

“How long was I asleep?”

“Five hours. Colonel Rhodes and Happy Hogan checked on you periodically throughout your rest. Happy is no longer in the tower but asked to be alerted when you wake.”

Suddenly, immediately after confirming Happy _was_ there, just like his headache, Tony feels his stomach complaining of his negligence in those five hours. 

“What’s the time now?”

"It’s currently 8:23pm, boss.”

Tony groans and gets out of bed, socked feet hitting the floor as he walks over to his closet to grab a shirt, but instead the way his chest tightens as he passes by Pepper’s empty side of the room causes him to stop short on his way. 

“Boss, incoming call from Happy Hogan.”

Tony shuts his eyes and presses the heels of his hands against them as he tells FRIDAY to patch him through. 

“Hey, boss.”

“Happy. How’s it going?” Tony asks as he grabs his Black Sabbath t-shirt and a long sleeve to wear underneath it.

“Wanted to know if you needed anything else before I fly out.”

“Uh,” Tony starts as he begins to put on his long sleeve, “Ryan knows he’s on duty til told otherwise?”

“Yeah, spoke to him. He’ll be there pick up and drop off, and for whatever else you need.”

“Then, we’re good.”

“Alright. You sure?”

Tony sits at the foot of the bed once he’s settled and lets his head rest for a moment. He’s still slightly spinning. 

“Yeah.” He takes a deep breath and drops his forehead in his palm because he wants to scream and doesn’t really know why. Maybe he'll lay back down or stand up and head to the restroom, rinse his face, brush his teeth, stare in the mirror and think long and hard about what he did on Peter’s third week of school. Maybe he'll punch himself. Who knows. Not Tony.

“Thanks, Happy. Really.” He loves that unsmiling piece of marshmallow. Asset management is going to be a piece of cake for him. Whosoever can manage Tony Stark can do it all. 

“You got it, boss. Any time.”

“End call,” Tony instructs FRIDAY, hands leaning on the sink as he stares back at his reflection. 

Once Peter is asleep, after making sure Tony was alright and Tony apologizing for his behavior, Rhodey and him sit in the balcony of Tony’s room, the September breeze already preparing them for the fall. He misses Malibu. If Peter wasn’t already in school, he probably would’ve just moved West again, keeping his address a very well kept secret this time around. But he likes the city too and it’s also close to the Avengers facility. He can’t go to Malibu right now either way. It’s not the time yet. 

Sitting outside with Rhodey feels like that time he thought he was celebrating his last birthday poolside with him. Tony remembers how they laughed, how they cried, all they talked and goofed around that night. He remembers how they both promised things to each other without even speaking them out loud. And here they are, experiencing Peter's life together, and saving the world together, and wrecking it together all the same. They sit together in the same sort of grief now, this one being a lot different but all too real all the same. 

“She's completely moved out, then.”

Tony stares into the skyline, the city loud and bright as he nods to Rhodey’s question. 

“How’s Peter handling it?”

“We talked to him as soon as it happened, prepared him for her absence around the tower. He's alright. Bummed, but,” Tony shrugs, looking to the side as he finishes, "alright."

He sees Rhodey giving a slow nod from the corner of his eye as he also stares towards the view, Tony’s thoughts trying to take over his entire body, trying to talk him into reacting the best way he knows how to counterattack all he’s feeling. 

“Didn’t prepare yourself, though.”

Tony shakes his head, feeling his throat closing at the thought of that moment, at the very mature and mutual conversations he and Pepper had. It was the right thing to do, and maybe they’ll find their way back to each other. Whether it's a _break_ or a break _up_ though, it is such a tricky thing because either way they aren’t together and, in the words of Peter who puts it prettier than most, it's all so crappy. 

“What are you looking at?” Tony asks with no real hostility as he feels Rhodey’s eyes on him, the stars nonexistent with all the lights giving them a run for their money. Maybe that's why Tony can stare at this side of the sky at this time of the day. 

“I’m looking at you.”

Tony shakes his head and turns to face Rhodey. 

“Not alone, kid.”

The nickname pulls at the corner of Tony’s lips, being brought back to the first time he met Rhodey, Tony looking all scrawny and always in need of saving, no matter how independent the kid was at the time. Because here Tony is, well after his late thirties and Rhodey is still rescuing him. That's _his_ trait. Always saving Tony Stark. He hopes Peter finds a friendship like that, someone that he can be loyal to, someone that's loyal to him. And if the snacks incident is any indication, Tony doesn't have to worry about that for long because Ned Leeds is a keeper. 

“Not alone,” Tony echos as Rhodey stretches his arm over to Tony and places his hand on his shoulder, squeezing in what feels a reassuring way. 

—

October brings the cold and a peace he thought would be a lot harder to acquire. It brings him Happy and Rhodey spending time with him and the kid whenever they can. It brings knowledge that Happy and Rhodey visit and spend time with Pepper just as much as they do with Tony. Those are the best news he's heard in a long time. Because they're as much her family as they are his. His favorite thing that October brings though is Peter’s very station within Tony’s shop. They both agreed to keep Bruce's lab off-limits until he returns and so Tony branched out and personalized Peter his own side of the workshop. They spend a lot more time together, especially since the night Peter ran into the workshop with his hair all messed up in the middle of the night and his eyes blown, crazed and hands everywhere. 

“What do you think about _n__anotechnology?_” He was holding Tony by his shoulders when he said it, slowly and shaking with excitement. 

Tony had to take one look at Peter as the kid nodded slowly with his eyes smiling before his lips did. Now Peter sits with all the wrappers of candies, chips, water bottles by his station, working on his idea for Tony's suit. Tuesdays and Fridays are Tony’s favorite days because he knows Peter is bound to shake him to his core in the best of ways with his ideas and thoughts, and observations. He's truly brilliant. Bruce would’ve tried to take him for himself had he been around.

“You ready?”

Peter nods as he sits on top of his table with his legs crossed against him, a video camera in one hand and biting a snickers bar from the other one. DUM-E is next to him with the fire extinguisher at the ready. 

“Remind me again why you switched jobs with DUM-E?” Tony stands on his marked spots, flashbacks of when he first started creating the Iron Man armor rushing in when he's in position. 

“Because he’s faster than I am and _better_,” Peter says around a mouthful of chocolate. Tony watches as Peter pats the bot with a grin, DUM-E loving the attention. 

“Can we focus, please?" Tony says with a roll of his eyes, and then points to DUM-E saying, "if I burn to death, it’s your funeral, you understand?”

“Dad, be nice to him. Come on. Go. Try the gauntlet.”

Tony huffs a breath and initiates the sequence, Peter’s “holy _shit_, dad, it works!” when the gauntlet wraps nicely around his hand and up to his elbow making Tony smile despite the kid’s choice of words to enhance his excitement. But just as it looks like its working, it stops and disintegrates as the hundreds of nanobots splatter on the ground, DUM-E aiming the extinguisher at Tony. 

"AH, AH, AH. I'm _fine_. Stand down."

“Okay, what about this?” Peter says as he jumps off the table and shuts the camera off. When he approaches Tony and leads him to the screens FRIDAY has up for them, he starts inputting his ideas and then exchanging them with genius Tony Stark. And he can’t help but to feel that Peter really is going to change the world.

“That could work,” he says when Peter finishes his mockup. 

“Yeah?!”

“Let’s give it a shot.”

“Awesomeeeee,” Peter says and they high five each other, getting right down to work. 

—

The beginning of November, Tony sits by the kitchen island staring at the bottle he hasn’t touched since that time Peter found him half alive in his room. With a batted breath, he pours a drink in the glass and leaves it untouched. Some days are really good, majority of them have been for that matter, but something about today seems to want to drag him back to a place he hasn’t been to in almost fifteen years. He rationalizes again, and even though it still leaves a bitter taste on his tongue to think about, he knows this is for the best. The time apart is needed. And in her defense, Tony _is_ a handful and she doesn’t deserve to be put through all the things he voluntarily walks through.

This was coming. He knew it. The moment he realized the truth, she did almost immediately after. Tony couldn’t stop building, tinkering, fixing, but it turns out it’s hard when he doesn’t _want_ to. It’s _ impossible _ to rest knowing it's just a matter of time for the real fight to burst through the door; he can feel it so vivid some days. He wakes up and as soon as his eyes open, the anxiety starts off at his feet, travels up to his stomach and then it settles right there in his chest. Today he felt it all mixed with Pepper’s absence. They taunt him while Peter is stuck in after school traffic, trying to trick him into thinking something is at the bottom of the bottle. So he pours a bit more without drinking it, and continues to stare at it. 

But alas, cliches strike again because what he’s looking for isn’t at the end of the glass, nor the end of the bottle. 

He stares though. He stares until Peter’s arrival is announced from FRIDAY overhead. Peter, who took the break-up just as hard but Tony made sure it was just a normal process, not an eternal damnation of missing Pepper. That’s something Tony wishes upon no one. When the kid steps into the kitchen on the phone, he's making plans for dinner. It's Thursday, that's right. Pepper’s version of a spa day with Peter since he was five takes place on Thursdays. That became a routine since the Hammer bots situation was brewing.

Tony knows Peter sees him in the kitchen while Tony puts the bottle away and pours the drink down the sink. 

“Hey, kid,” he says as he stares at the liquid go down the drain. 

“Hey, dad. H-how are you?”

Tony turns around to see Peter eyeing the cabinet where the liquor is and then the glass in the sink. Tony gives a wave of his hand, trying to dismiss Peter’s thoughts with a tired breath. Not trying to self destruct takes it out of him. 

“Ross wants to see me. You can imagine how I’m doing,” he answers, scratching his head and putting his hands in his pockets as he stands a few feet from him. 

“Yeah?”

“Ross is kind of a dick and well,” Tony shrugs as he walks up to Peter, the kid’s small smile enough for Tony to feel just a bit better. He puts his arms around Peter’s shoulders and looks down at him with a grin of his own. 

“Hey, kid.”

Peter’s small chuckle is warm. Tony is grateful for it.

“What’s up, old man?” The side hug is brief but always full of love. Something Tony is also grateful for. 

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” Tony quickly breathes out, looking around as they head out of the kitchen. “You wanna catch a movie after dinner?”

“Oh..I wanted to ask you..”

They make it to the living room and Peter doesn’t try to move from Tony’s hold, nervously rubbing his hands against each other. Peter then looks up at Tony with his big brown doe eyes, his nerves coming across his stare. 

“What is it, Pete? You can ask me.” 

“Well..It’s actually two things. Please, uh, sit. Sit.”

“Uh..”

“Please, dad.”

Tony lets go of him and sits on the couch while Peter stands. It dawns on Tony then that maybe something is not entirely right and he should prepare for whatever is coming, but he has no idea what 14-year-olds are like. Tony was on his way to college by fifteen; he never really had a normal childhood, and as wrong as it might sound out loud if he says it, Tony is kind of excited to be dealing with normal child behavior.

“What’s up? You’re scaring me.”

“Okay,” Peter exhales and he stares at down at him, opening his mouth and then closing it as if he’s trying to find the right thing to say. “I—okay.”

“You’re in trouble?”

“No.”

“You owe somebody money?”

“What? No.”

“Okay. Next category. Did you—”

“Is it okay that I still have my Thursday night dinners with Pepper?” Peter blurts this out, his hands into fists with his eyes shut.

That’s what all the fuss is about? That’s not that exciting. 

“...Yeah?” 

When the kid’s eyes snap open, Tony holds the urge to laugh because they grow twice their size. It’s one of the funniest things he does to date. Steve and Natasha always get a kick out of it too. 

“Really?”

“Please tell me there’s more to the conversation.”

“No, wait, really? Because I don’t want you to think I’m picking sides or anything. You know I love you. I just—Pepper’s..she’s..well, she’s my.._friend, _she's like my.._mom _and I…—”

“I’m gonna stop you right there, buddyboy,” Tony interrupts as he puts his hand up to indicate his halt at Peter’s words. He pats the open space next to him for Peter to sit. Quietly, the kid follows instructions and gives Tony his undivided attention. 

“You can see Pepper whenever you want, whenever you need to. We talked about this. This is between Pepper and I. You have nothing to do with it.”

Peter’s eyes fall to his lap, his right hand gently playing with the fingers on his left one. Tony, knowing him a bit more each day, can’t help to think that something else needs to be said on Peter's behalf.

“Peter,” Tony calls. 

Peter doesn’t respond as he looks back up to towards him.

“What is it?”

“That day before you guys told me about Pepper moving out," he slowly begins to say, "I heard you arguing and my name was brought up.”

Tony remains silent because he remembers that explosion as if it happened a few hours ago. He had no idea Peter had heard them, given that the kid wasn’t supposed to be home around that time. 

“It wasn’t because of me that she left, right?”

“You know that’s not true. We were arguing.._I_..was..we were trying to find out what the best solution was for you, kid. You’re not at fault. No one is.”

Peter doesn’t seem entirely convinced when he downcasts his eyes again. Tony wants to elaborate and explain to Peter that it’s really all Tony’s fault, but that’s a burden Peter doesn’t need to carry, something that’s irrelevant to Peter’s side of the story. This is Tony’s side, and he has to be the one that carries out his narrative. Tony though, knows his kid, and just in the same quiet manner Peter is behaving, Tony leans back on the couch with his head against the headrest and asks FRIDAY to display the clouds that usually cover Peter’s ceilings. The kid doesn’t need an invitation as he leans back and positions himself just like Tony is, FRIDAY shutting down all the proper lights and covering the right amount of windows for the effect to work to perfection. They stare at the clouds over the ceiling for a moment once they're working until Peter finds the perfect light bulb looking one to start the conversation.

“It does look like a light bulb.”

“How are you really, dad?”

“It’s an adjustment but I’m much better. Promise, Pete. Do you believe me about it not being your fault?”

“I do. Are you drinking again?”

Tony swallows dry at the question and focuses on the clouds above him. 

“I’m not. Socially, if that.”

“You know you can always count on me, right? If you want to..I don’t know..do something or get away. If you want to talk..I know that I’ve never been in a serious relationship or anything like that, but I can help. We can talk and stuff, you know?”

Peter was in his own relationship with Pepper for the same amount of time, if not more. The kid probably has a lot to say, and maybe he doesn't see it that way because it wasn't a romantic involvement, but it was _the_ most important relationship dynamic in the entire residence. So, again, Tony opens up the floor for him to talk if he needs to, just like Peter did for him. 

"Thanks, dad. I will if I need to. I promise."

“You worry about being a kid, Peter. I promise I am fine. You help me so much already: not sleeping at a decent hour during school nights, sneaking into the lab after hours, sleeping past noon on weekends—that’s your job. To drive me crazy with all your chocolate and sunchip intake, all your wrappers laying around the shop that DUM-E covers for you.”

Peter’s chuckle really eases Tony’s tension. He is so fond of that sound. 

“So I just focus on school, eating in the lab and replace full meals with chips and snickers bars?”

Tony closes his eyes and shakes his head in slightly feigned exasperation. Is this how Rhodey feels when Tony doesn't listen to him? Because if so, he is so sorry. 

“School and eating full meals in the kitchen.”

“School is my main concern though, right? Aside from keeping myself alive with full meals in all appropriate areas, of course.”

“Exactly.” Tony nods as he catches sight of one of the fullest clouds on the ceiling. The feature never gets old. 

“Stay focused on school and not worry about things I can’t control, right?”

“Right,” Tony agrees. The clouds are so full above them, the real ones nonexistent outside. 

“You want me to cease the best experiences, opportunities, all of it, correct?”

“You’re getting it. Yup.”

“Extracurricular activities, educational field trips, stimulating study sessions.”

“That’s it.”

“Awesome. So there’s a field trip to Oscorp next Thursday, and I need you to sign my permission slip.”

Tony should’ve known better. He raised him. All he does is shut his eyes with an exhale again and shake his head as he speaks.

“Extortion, Peter, is something you should never use on your parents.”

Peter laughs quick and full as he sits up from the couch and brings his lips to Tony’s forehead with a loud kiss and a thank you escaping his lips as he lays back down next to him. 

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbles. "We have to work something out with your teacher and your name. Maybe have Ryan undercover or something," Tony thinks out loud to himself more than anything.

"As long as you let me go, have at it, Mr. Stark."

They stay below the clouds for another ten minutes, until Peter has to go to dinner. He makes Tony laugh so hard eight out of those ten, he couldn’t breathe. 

—

“I’ll be back Friday morning. I am trusting you to handle yourself for the few hours you’ll be alone, do you understand? Another thing, in case you forget: _go to bed on time_. If you're late for school that morning, I _will_ find out. You hear me?” 

“Yes, dad,” Peter rolls his eyes as Ryan enters the penthouse, ready to take Peter to school. 

“Ryan, same protocols apply, alright? You cannot reach me, you go to Rhodey, if not Pepper, if not Happy. If not, the team is upstate. Straight there, understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Ryan dutifully answers. 

Peter stands from the stool midway into drinking the milk directly from his cereal bowl as Tony checks his pockets for his wallet, feeling like he's forgetting something else regarding Peter. 

“Hi, Ryan," Peter says as he sets the spoon in the sink, "you wanna drop me off at the mall? Meeting my friends there. We’re skipping today.”

At the sound of Peter’s question, Tony’s head snaps up from looking down at the paperwork in front of him and Peter’s smile drops with an apology that Tony knows he doesn’t mean. All of a sudden he remembers what he forgot to say and when Peter looks towards Ryan, Tony following his gaze, he finds the driver trying to restrain his own amusement. 

“Watch on you at all times, Stark,” Tony says as he points the envelope in Peter’s direction. After Killian’s little kidnapping adventure and Peter outgrowing his necklace, Tony made sure the terror had a watch that did more than tell time. 

Peter is by the sink, finishing up his milk and wiggling the wrist the watch is on in Tony’s direction while sipping the last of his breakfast. Tony stares at him for a moment, shaking his head and goes back to sorting through the paperwork before him. Ross better have something monumental to say because for Tony to fly out over to see _him_ feels like the biggest drag of all time. Ryan offers Tony his assistance one last time before he heads back down to wait in the car, Tony feeling a lot better he saw him before he was in charge of Peter. 

“Call me when you get back to the tower,” Tony tells Peter as he opens the envelope Ross sent him with certain documents he needs to bring with him. He completely forgot to fill those out..Oh, it’s just him and his subconscious—he didn’t even want to open the envelope. 

“Can’t FRIDAY just tell you when I’m here?” Peter asks, slinging his backpack over his shoulders as he picks it up from where it rested by his feet. 

Tony deadpans his eyes to him until Peter agrees to call him when he is in the tower, Tony walking over to him and hugging him goodbye. Peter’s hugs could heal the sick. Tony's been meaning to look into it.

“Try to have fun, dad.”

“And you not so much.”

With a small smile, Peter pushes his glasses up from the bridge of his nose. 

“I will always be a proud and loyal SI member through and through, dad! Come on. You offend me.”

“Get outta here,” Tony jokes when he gives Peter a light push towards the elevator as the doors open. “Be good, do not get in trouble. Remember what we talked about. Seriously.”

“No talking about being Mary Parker’s kid. Stay with the group," Peter begins counting with his fingers as he walks backwards into the elevator. "My name is Peter Gonzales," he says, looking up as if to recall all the things he has to remember. He continues. "Remember SI is the lead company in the world in the science and engineering arena. Uh,” when the doors start sliding shut, Peter tells FRIDAY to hold them, making Tony cackle as he stands on the other side. “Oh!” he starts with his arms spread side to side to keep the doors from closing, “we make the most money, have helped millions of people around the world, have the most beautiful and efficient CEO and the most handsome heir to the throne."

“Very good.”

Peter gives a light bow with his hands still holding the doors. 

"You leave with Ryan, got it?"

"I really can't take the bus?"

“Not trying to ruin your life, kid. Pepper asked if you can be dropped off where she’s meeting you right after you're done."

"Alright, alright," he resigns, adjusting the backpack over his shoulders as he brings his arms back down. Tony waves at him until Peter stops him. 

"Wait! One more—FRIDAY, hold on!" The doors keep closing and Tony is about to burst into laughter at the FRIDAY and Peter interaction. 

"Peter, you're going to be late," she answers patiently. Tony just covers his smile with the back of his hand as he tries to be discreet about his amusement. 

"One more thing and then I'm gone. About the Oscorp trip. Super important."

"What is it?" He has Tony's attention then. They covered everything and some, what'd he miss?

“The old man? That Iron guy is just a beard. His son is the real brains behind the whole thing.“

“Go, kid,” he chuckles out, kissing his forehead and shaking his head as he steps back out of the elevator and watches the doors closing, the terror pretending someone is holding him back from going through the doors as they close. 

Peter leaves Tony laughing again as he walks back to the counter, biting the smile he wears on his lips. 

"He's gonna be the death of me," Tony quietly says out loud with a shake of his head, the same giddiness and smile on his face as he grabs what he needs from the documents and begins to gather his things to step out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter is exactly from what you're thinking about..if you're thinking what I'm thinking haha 
> 
> I cried when I wrote this one. My Pepperony heart.  
But we must walk on, so 
> 
> Go be happy!


	7. It Was Not Peaceful, It Was Just Quiet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> -Blood is running deep;  
some things never sleep-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You GUYS! 
> 
> Those of you that left lovely comments, looking forward to the next chapter, commenting on your favorite parts, or even just enjoying the way the story is being unraveled, THANK YOU. Your comments really mean so much to me. 
> 
> I am so glad you guys are having a grand ol' time reading this! Writing it was so fun, and sharing it with you really is one of the best things I've decided to do. So thank you for your excitement and your love for this story!
> 
> Now..ARE YOU READY? 
> 
> Here! We! Go!

Tony is trying his best to be in the room but it's hard when he's thinking about Peter going into a place where they might recognize him as Peter _ Parker_, not so much Peter _Stark._ Tony knows it’s a long shot thinking he won’t be recognized as his son in public, no matter how much Peter is kept away from the public eye. Even if the tabloids have moved on from him joining the decathlon team, or when he passed the entrance exam into Midtown High, seeing him at Oscorp would be something they won't ever let the kid live down. Nevertheless, it’s a risky move on his part to allow him to go into Oscorp _anyway_. Mary Parker wasn’t just a regular employee and as Bruce had pointed out when Tony disclosed the information of Peter’s birth mother to him one night, she was reaching for scientific discoveries that caused for her to be exiled from the scientific community. 

Maybe is his helicopter-parenting that is trying to make a strong comeback but the inkling Tony is getting about her death not being entirely an accident is—

“Stark.”

Right. He’s in a meeting. He sits straight, bringing his hand down from his chin and looks to Ross, who is standing in the center of the room with the rest of the secretary party all turned towards Tony.

“Carry on, you were saying?”

He glares at Tony while he continues to speak about regulations and injunctions Tony really has no business to be involved in, but he obviously speaks too soon because the real objective of Tony’s presence is presented, and Mary Parker is put in the back burner when Ross mentions regulation regarding the Avengers. 

—

When Pepper calls Tony to tell him Peter might have food poisoning, Tony decides to end the Ross-Tony tea time. He has been in D.C for _three days_ because he’ll be dammed if he leaves this matter unattended for the Secretary of State to do as he pleases. He makes sure Peter is alright with Pepper's help through text messages and frequent phone calls. She tells Tony she can stay in the tower with him until Tony returns, though she promises he doesn’t have to come back if he is still needed where he is. She breaks down the initial day of Peter's discomfort, starting off with meeting the kid at his favorite Italian place after the field trip that Thursday. Then, almost immediately after, Peter wasn’t feeling too well and was throwing up the whole way to the tower. That's when Pepper thought it best to let Tony know what was going on, and he has been in contact with her ever since. That next day, he had a fever that spiked but it went down half an hour after it came, Pepper's home remedies doing little but doing something nonetheless. When he woke the next morning, he was much better, able to speak to Tony and stayed in bed the entire day. Now Pepper has to go and Rhodey is on his way to the tower straight from a mission to stay with him while Tony gets ready to fly home. 

“Thank you, Pepper. I should be there in a couple of hours. I'll have Rhodey call when he gets there."

“Yeah, he should be here in—”

But Pepper stops speaking midsentence and Tony checks the earpiece, asking FRIDAY if the signal is fine as he boards the jet. 

“Pep?”

He hears Pepper asking Peter if he’s alright as she knocks on a door he assumes leads into Peter's room. 

“Oh, my gosh, what happened?” she asks, panicked.

“I don’t know! The—the handle just broke!”

And then Pepper is shrieking as Peter apologizes and Tony is frankly freaking out. 

“Pepper?! What’s going on?! Are you alright?”

“Tony—yes—I’ll call you back! Peter, call maintenance!”

The call drops. He undoes his tie as he sits down and sighs, closing his eyes and trying not to jump out the window. 

Pepper calls back. Something happened in Peter’s bathroom, but the sink is all fixed, Pepper is all dried and Peter is in the kitchen with Rhodey when Tony does a video call. 

“And you? How are you feeling?”

Peter shrugs with a blanket over his head as he covers his entire body. Only his face is showing. “Fine, I guess.”

“Yeah? No more pain? Fever? Plumbing issues?”

Peter grins at Tony while scratching his forehead and answers with, “that was crazy. Pepper deserves a raise.”

“She’s the CEO, kid. Besides, she took care of you because she wanted to. I didn’t send her there.”

“Really?”

Tony rolls his eyes. “_Yes, Peter. _ But you’re alright? How was your field trip?”

Peter’s face stills and then recovers just the same.

“Dad, Oscorp is a very cool place, but SI is undefeated. It has been proven. I can attest to it.”

“This is why you’re my favorite son.”

“You have other kids?! I have siblings?!”

“I adopted Rhodey, did you forget?”

Peter drops his head back in laughter when Rhodey retorts a witty comeback from where he is by the stove. It causes Tony to smile. Peter looks good and as always, Pepper takes more than partial credit for that. 

—

The next few months are eventful yet relatively quiet. 

FRIDAY picked up on a guy who can climb walls and stopped a car going 40 miles an hour from crashing into a bus. It was a pretty cool trick. He wonders who manufactures his tech because the webbing he uses to swing around the city is off the charts. It fuels Ross’ idea for the Registration Act once he discovers Tony might have access to all the enhanced individuals that aren't part of the Avengers since he has FRIDAY tracking to see which of them are on the right side of the scale. He doesn’t pay much attention to his fussings because the act got denied so there is no reason for him to even bring it up to the team. Another thing worth mentioning was the outbreak from Oscorp about a scientist going rogue. Jonathan Baxter. It doesn't negatively affect Tony in the slightest, he doesn’t even know what the guy did, but it was a good day that day. He will keep tabs on that though. Oscorp's connection to Peter will never be something Tony can overlook, and the news also reminded him to check on the techs from the R&D department. That Quinten guy just doesn’t settle right with him.

In reality, it is mostly quiet around the tower because Peter has gotten school crazy. He is joining every single extracurricular activity he can fit in his schedule and home every day after 10:00pm because of it. There has been one too many occasions when Tony finds him in the living room asleep on top of his homework or diagrams, studies, things Bruce's heart would've swollen up over. Oscorp taught Peter things that only Bruce could’ve done, and that is the only reason Tony won’t put them out of business. Peter is focused, studying, and a full on scientist. It’s exhilarating and a bit unsettling to watch him at times when he's in the shop, those three times he has been there in the last month or so. 

When Peter _ is _ around, it’s usually Saturdays when Tony is going to the compound and Rhodey is in town. They usually have brunch together and today, like every Saturday, Peter takes off to watch the team in training while Tony spends his time in the lab working on the tech. 

“Dad, I have a last minute practice for decathlon,” Peter announces when Tony is testing the new wings for Sam. The kid is standing by the door, putting his arms through the sleeves of his jacket. 

“It’s Saturday!" he says as he sets the tablet down on the table, the wings shutting down as well. "No, no. It’s the _first_ Saturday we’ve spent together in the last month. Can’t skip it or call out or something?”

“I know, I’m sorry. But it's Liz’s senior year and she wants to graduate with a bang. Nationals are coming up and all that.”

“Alright, well,” Tony sighs as he grabs the mug of coffee and finishes his last sip, “I’ll take you. Ned’s house?”

“Nah, that’s okay. I asked Ryan if he could. I know you’re busy and stuff. Stay.”

“I don’t mind, kid. You know that.” Tony begins walking out of the shop and meeting Peter at the frame of the door where he stands adjusting his jacket. He gives him a soft grin, a gentle pat on his shoulder as he puts his arm around Peter. 

“Tomorrow, you wanna work on the suit? I don’t have any homework,” Peter says as he looks up when they walk out of the shop, playing with his hands in that shy way he does. 

“It’s almost finished, did I tell you?” Tony says with a bit of excitement when he looks down at Peter with a smirk. 

“What? Really? It works and everything?”

“Almost.”

“That’s awesome, dad.”

Ryan ends up taking Peter to Queens when Natasha walks in and Steve asks for him to stay for dinner. Tony accepts the invitation, periodically texting the kid, knowing he would've loved to have dinner with Captain America. One of his texts say, “try not to be home so late”, in which the kid response with “I answered two questions wrong, I’m here all night”, to which Tony text messages back with “you’re a kid genius. You turned down going to COLLEGE instead of high school, what do you mean 'you missed two questions'”. Peter doesn’t respond for a while and Tony sets his phone down on the table as he catches up with what Rhodey and Sam are going on about. 

Tony leaves about an hour after and that’s when Peter texts back a “ha ha, I’m not perfect but thanks for the vote of confidence.” 

—

Tony understands why the team captain, Liz, pushes them so hard. When he makes it to a few of the meets with Pepper, Happy and Rhodey sitting all the way in the back with hats and casual clothing to blend in, they discover Peter is undoubtedly the star of the team. He's very quick and very bright, and Tony and Pepper beam with pride when they look at each other after Peter answers the winning question. 

—

Tony is standing by the kitchen island as he sips his coffee while reading the tabloids on the spiderguy. The Daily Bugle is having a field day, and Tony hopes that this poor guy is not taking it too hard. The people don't want to be protected, and when they are given what they want and everything goes belly up, they ask where the heroes were that they were not preventing the chaos. It's frustrating but it's the hero gig. Well, in the spiderguy's case, the _vigilante_ gig. They keep calling him Spider-Man, and Tony shakes his head as he brings the mug of coffee to his lips.

"Not in that onesie, he's not," he mumbles as he keeps scrolling through FRIDAY's selection for him. When Tony looks up at the sound of the stumbling and chaos approaching, he glances at his watch.

There's no way Peter is still here because if so, he might as well not go to school. Tony checked on him about 45 minutes ago and he was up. He thought he was gone because Tony got in the shower right after he woke him for the third time. But alas, it is Peter that walks into the kitchen with a piece of paper stuck to his face and ten minutes to spare before he has to be in school. Tony remains still as he puzzling looks at Peter and sets the mug back down on the counter. The kid drops his bag on the peninsula and snatches the paper from his face as Tony moves behind the island to watch Peter with a full view. He props his elbows on the counter and rests his chin on his laced fingers, marveling at the sight. Peter wears his pajama bottoms with a black hoodie and his hair all over the place. He wears his red Chuck Taylors as slippers and moves around the kitchen in a haste, grabbing an apple and an orange from the fruit bowl, then three bags of chips and two Snickers bars from the cabinet and shoves them all in his bag along with the piece of paper he unsticks from his face. Then, he proceeds to grab the first cereal box he can reach from the cereal cabinet and sticks his hand inside it, pulling out a handful of cereal and shoving it in his mouth. Tony watches in genuine awe as the kid proceeds to open the fridge while he chews away and puts his mouth to the cartoon of milk. Tony is scared to intervene at this point, afraid Peter will eat him, or trample him or both. At the same time. He wipes his mouth with the back of his sleeve and Tony scrunches his face in distaste at the sight. 

Teenage boys. The worst. 

He moves over to Tony, who flinches when Peter throws himself at him and hugs him just like he always does, full of affection. Tony returns the gesture quietly and disturbed as the kid pulls away and runs as best as he can to the elevator. He enters through the double doors and presses the buttons on the side, talking to FRIDAY around a mouthful of cereal to inform Ryan he is coming. Tony walks over to see him off, arms crossed against his chest and the perplexing look he wears not affecting Peter in the slightest because he gives Tony a closed mouth smile, swallowing his food as Tony continues to stare at him, agape and watching as Peter waves while the doors close. 

Tony talks to Peter that night about dropping an extracurricular when he gets home past ten again. It goes well. He says he's going to drop band. 

—

Tony and Pepper are on civil terms. They don’t exchange many words between them unless it’s about Peter or the company. When they have to attend the same meetings or are in the same room celebrating mutual friends’ birthdays, like Happy's today, he can't ignore the way his chest aches at the sight; he misses her every day. She still makes his heartbeat thump at whatever rhythm she moves and his stomach flutters whenever she smiles, whenever she laughs, whenever she looks his way and they make eye contact, no matter how brief. 

—

The suit is almost finished. He wants to test it out, but the feeling of a part of the project missing won't let him do it so he opens up the screen from the notes and schematics he and Peter came up with. As he begins to read through them, Pepper’s incoming call makes him lose his place. DUM-E lowers the fire extinguisher when Tony lowers the gauntlet as it retracts in the arc reactor, taking it off his chest and setting it in on the table. 

“Hey, Tony. Just keeping you updated on Quentin. The unemployment claims are set.”

Tony takes a seat on the stool and reads over the schematics on the screen before him, not entirely attentive to Pepper's words. 

“Gotcha,” he says to both her and the models FRIDAY has up for him. 

“I leave tonight and will be in Hong Kong for three weeks, so if you need anything call me directly. I talked to Peter about Thursdays already.”

“You got it,” he slowly and distractedly answers to both screen and her again when he sees the few things he needs to work with, “I, uh, will do that. Thank you for letting me know.” FRIDAY expands the view per Tony’s silent request with his hand and he begins to work on the missing piece he just discovered. 

“I will call you when we close.”

“Yup. No problem.”

"Talk to you soon," she says and ends the call. Tony refocusing entirely on the screen before him but then FRIDAY interrupts him again when she announces Peter is back and seems to be in mild distress.

He hasn't heard that warning since his nightmares, so he drops all he's doing and asks for a more elaborate description on his way to the kid's room, his vitals from his watch displayed from Tony's. They aren't normal but it isn't anything that alarming either.

“I said I was fine, FRIDAY. You’re overreacting,” he hears Peter say to the A.I when he reaches the door.

“Kid?” Peter doesn’t respond when Tony knocks. “Peter?” Tony opens the door ajar and peaks his head in to find Peter nursing the side of his stomach. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“Oh..nothing. Robotics club. I got cut trying to disable—anyway, I think when the glass shattered it got me but I didn’t notice until now.” 

“What? Let me see.”

“No! Uh, that’s okay.”

Tony stares at Peter for a moment, the surprised look on his face surely mirroring Peter’s. 

“What do you mean ‘no, uh, that’s okay' Let me see. You might need to go get that patched up.”

“No!” 

The reaction startles Peter as much as Tony that second time around if the kid’s face is any indication. 

“No—I mean—I won’t. Can you please go get the first aid kit? Please, dad? It’s nothing.” 

But Tony can see the small hint of blood seeping through Peter’s shirt and crouches down in front of him, gently moving the kid's hands out of the way so he can see. 

“Yeah, kid. The glass got you good but it’s not that bad.”

Peter’s sigh of relief is something Tony empathizes with as he stands back up and goes to get the first aid kid. 

—

Tony is in the shop finishing up the suit for the spiderguy since his MO checks out that he’s trying to help instead of the other thing. From FRIDAY's research, the guy catches muggers, and car thieves, stops bank robberies and ATM assaults. Tony can trust he's alright. Who knows, maybe he’ll join the team, take Tony's place so he can retire for good and try to work on how to properly raise a kid genius. Like worrying about accidents in robotics club. Peter’s cut from the other day is practically nonexistent and Tony only knows this because he has to trust Peter’s words since the kid just won't slow down. When Peter comes to say bye to Tony in the lab, Tony looks up at him when they break from their hug.

“Where are you going?” Tony calls as Peter walks to the door.

“It's Thursday, remember?” the kid announces with a brief glance over his shoulder towards him.

On cue, Pepper’s voice comes to mind letting him know she is out of the country. At the epiphany, Tony rushes to him before he goes out the door. 

“Oh, and where, uh, where are you gonna be tonight?”

“I, uh, I don’t know. Chinese, hopefully. Anyway, I—”

“How about you bring me something? I was gonna order in but I’m gonna be in the lab and well, you’re already out.”

“Oh—I would. I totally would but, uh, I don’t have any money.”

“You’re a billionaire, kid.”

“No, _you’re_ a billionaire.”

“_Peter—_”

“Ugh, fine. Yes. Heir to Stark fortune—”

“Kid—”

“—but I’m just saying that when the time comes, I might do exactly what you did and—”

“Pete—”

“—give the position to someone else—”

“So you’re gonna fly all the way to Hong Kong for dinner? It’s a school night.”

Peter’s mouth snaps shut and his grip on his backpack straps tighten. Tony sees the panic in the way he stares and then Peter is looking side to side, standing incredibly still and extremely quiet. Tony crosses his arms against his chest and waits for a response without giving the boy any leads. 

“If that’s what Pepper wants to do.”

“Oh my—Peter.” Tony drops his arms, as he shakes his head and holds the bridge of his nose. “Sit.” 

Trying not to be overbearing, because Tony was a teenager once, he can understand that Peter isn’t perfect. The kid walks over to his father’s station and sits on the stool, facing him with slouched shoulders and nervousness in his eyes that remind Tony of a look he felt all too often around his own father. He stands before Peter, saying nothing. A moment later, he sighs and grabs the other stool and sits so that they’re facing each other. 

“What’s going on?”

“I—”

“And I want the truth.”

Peter snaps his mouth shut again. Tony waits. Peter says nothing. 

“Come on kid, talk to me. I feel like you’re slipping from me lately.”

It hurts Tony a bit more than he thought it would confessing that fact out loud. Because he doesn’t see Peter often, they don’t talk as much anymore, and things have gotten a lot more difficult for them since they're both occupied all the time. Tuesdays and Fridays now consist of school extracurriculars and either Peter is asleep when Tony is finally able to see him or he’s not home, or they keep missing each other. Pepper has a more consistent dynamic with Peter, and Tony lives under the same roof as the kid. 

“I just..I wanted to go for a walk, go visit with Ned at this Harry Potter shop. I’m finally off—not—not that being with Pepper is a chore or anything like that—just—”

“I know what you mean.”

“Yeah,” Peter slumps a bit on his seat and then continues talking. “I don’t have a lot of free time anymore and there’s always someone with me when I just want to go to the park or get some ice cream or something.”

“I’m sorry, Peter. I’m not trying to ruin your life, you know. It’s just..security is a must.”

“I—I know, dad. I’m—it’s not your fault.”

Tony doesn’t like the lie Peter tried to put past him, but he lets Peter go anyway. As long as he’s accompanied. At the end of the night, Peter ends up at the library and Ryan just ends up waiting for him outside of it until he comes out. Like every other Thursday night. He thinks of a few ways to balance life out a little and spend some time with his kid this weekend. 

—

“It smells amazing in here, holy crap. You made all this? No way.”

Tony turns around from the counter and spreads his arms at the display of food on the peninsula counter, proud of what stands before him.

“Oh, kid.” Tony says, shaking his head with a small chuckle. 

Peter snorts as he walks over to Tony, giving him a hug good morning. 

“_Jenna_ made all of this,” he answers as he grabs a strawberry from the plate of berries while Peter chuckles as he moves over to the stools. 

"Well, it all looks and smells delicious. Jenna has done it again."

“That’s why I pay her the big bucks. So!” Tony claps his hands as Peter begins to take a seat and grabs a piece of bacon as he takes one of the empty plates and sets it in front of him. He looks at Tony while he continues speaking announcing that "Rhodey is coming up here for lunch, which, since you cannot wake up before eleven on a Saturday, is now brunch, which is taking place now. How’s that sound?”

"Boss, Colonel Rhodes is on his way up," FRIDAY interrupts before Peter can answer.

Tony and Peter both look up at FRIDAY's announcement and then simultaneously look back down at each other.

“Awesome.”

“Exactly,” Tony remarks as he points a piece of bread Peter's way, the kid smiling through his piece of bacon.

The brunch with Rhodey is light, it’s fun and exactly what Tony needed. It takes a lot of hints and insinuations, and finally a straight forward request but Peter is persuaded into skipping on his Saturday duties. It’s one Saturday, what could possibly happen if he misses one practice? Or meeting? Or rehearsal? Or all of it?

When Rhodey leaves around dinner time, they migrate to the couch and watch Peter’s favorite movies, they order food and Tony has FRIDAY only patch through emergency contacts and the Avengers line. It feels like old times, where nothing threatened their relationship, especially not each other's absence. 

They laugh so much, so hard that water comes out of Peter’s nose. The worries of the day and Ross' constant calling, the ache from finding out Pepper had dinner with some guy he had to force himself not to look up, the fear of Peter growing up and him missing it, missing him altogether lately, dissolves at the sound of Peter’s joy, at the look in his eyes when he’s so at ease and open with Tony. He can't help but to stare at him for a moment, the love for his son, the need to protect him, to save him, to love him growing astronomically at that exact moment. 

“Hey, you alright?”

Tony snaps back into the frame, shaking his head lightly and grinning at Peter. It feels so _right_ doing this with him. It’s been such a long time. It feels like years ago. 

“I miss you, kid,” Tony tells him, placing his hand at the back of Peter’s neck and giving him a gentle squeeze, a reassuring gesture to be sure he’s real. He has grown so much, so well. 

“I—dad, I’m right here.”

“I know but lately we've both been kind of in our little worlds. Sometimes I feel like if I don't go check on you in the middle of the night, you're not really here. It’s all—anyway. Just..it’s good to see you, to see you laugh. It’s a good view.”

Peter’s face softens and something that looks like guilt and maybe desperation crosses his eyes. It’s so fast, Tony dismisses it for something he imagines. 

“I love you, dad. I love you so much,” is what Peter quietly tells him when he lunges himself at Tony, wrapping his arms around him. “I want you to be proud of me.”

It’s a pleasant surprise and Tony holds him just as tight for a moment. Peter doesn’t relent his hold against him, and Tony feels Peter’s breathing pick up against his chest. 

“Hey, hey. I _ am _ proud of you, are you kidding? You’re my bragging point. You make me look good. Well, _better_. I always look good. Oh, kiddo..Don’t cry. I love you too. I love you most.”

But Peter is not calming down and Tony holds him tighter while the kid talks through his sobs about missing Tony too. He apologizes, and Tony doesn’t know what for, but the sound of the kid's sudden distress causes a lump in his throat. 

“I’m sorry too, buddy,” Tony tries to respond with when Peter lets go and sits across from him, but Tony’s own cries are threatening his words and he takes a deep breath, Peter’s tears streaming down his face as he stares at him. "We'll make time—I'll make the time. You have my word."

With his hands running through his kid’s hair, pushing it back to completely show his forehead, Peter stares at Tony for all of two seconds before he lowers his gaze. 

“What’s going on, Pete? Huh?” Tony’s voice is gentle, trying to come across more curious than concerned when he feels Peter's uneasiness. He puts a hand on his shoulder, a reassuring gesture Tony wants to convey for him.

“I just..I miss you too, dad.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, talk to me, Slothboy! What’s been going on? How’s school—well, I know how school is. You practically live there.”

Peter lets out a wet, brief laugh, dropping his head back at the nickname. It makes Tony smile, his unshed tears retracting.

“Wow. Slothboy.”

“That’s what I said. So, what’s been going on?”

There is the crush on Liz, there is Flash and there is Tony trying not to get involved in any of it per Peter’s begging and pleading. They spend hours conversing about it all and about nothing in particular. Tony feels refreshed. 

—

Ross found his ground again. Tony doesn’t even want to answer the phone, but his presence is being newly requested in Washington D.C. Unless Ross has a concrete thing, he won’t be going over there. Besides, B.A.R.F. is finished and Peter is so fascinated when Tony demonstrates it, he can’t think of anything else but that. 

—

Three days after dodging Ross and putting him on hold, the night before Tony leaves for MIT, he enters Peter’s room and sets the brand new phone on his bed. The kid broke his on one of his decathlon trips and Tony almost cried when he saw the conditions the device was in for two whole weeks. He stands by Peter's desk and catches all the pictures he has hanging on the board above it. The ones of them together take over most of the space, followed by his with Pepper, Rhodey and Happy. Tony chuckles at the one of Ned and Peter being complete goofballs when Tony had taken them to Universal Studios that winter break and shakes his head at the one when Steve let Peter hold the shield that summer. The one of Bruce and him wearing goggles while conversing and concentrated on their work stings to come across. Tony knows the kid misses him. Tony certainly does. Sighing and getting lost in Peter's space, feeling as if things will be alright, he places his hands in his pockets and continues to look around the room, seeing all of Peter’s dumpster diver creations. He can’t help the small chortle the retro computer elicits as it sits next to the perfectly functioning Stark one.

There are wrappers of candy, chips, protein bars, empty water bottles, empty juice bottles. They all reside in a corner by the small trashcan and Tony can see the kid is trying to maintain the room clean. Most of the fights between Peter and Tony, and certainly between Peter and Pepper consisted mostly around the conditions of his bedroom, and Tony's glad Peter’s room is looking a lot better. Ever since Pepper and Tony agreed to cut the service to his room so that he could learn to keep it together, he’s tried to have it as tidy as possible. It's slightly difficult when there are so many projects, and writings and experiments all over the space, but he's doing a decent job on it. For an almost 15-year-old boy, it’s not half bad.

He has half a heart to check his bathroom, and maybe he needs the laugh so slightly afraid while equally anxious, he walks in, slowly opening the door and seeing that it’s not bad at all. Huh. He sees the curtain wide open and inside the tub..are those..beakers with soap and water in them? What? Tony has to tell Peter he can do his chemistry homework in the lab because this is just unsafe. He should know better than that. What kind of scientist is he? With a small shake of his head, Tony begins to walk out of the bathroom and stops when he sees a shadow on the ground further up confirming it isn't his. He slowly steps out of the bathroom altogether and follows it, his heart speeding at the sight of a blue and red..body crawling on the ceiling. His eyes widen at the sight of the single web attaching to the door as it closes it gently. The fricking Spiderguy? How did he get in the tower? Tony’s eyes must be failing him as the person drops with the softest thud to the ground and FRIDAY speaks overhead.

“Boss, Ryan is asking for confirmation that you picked Peter up from the library. He's calling Peter's phone but there is no answer from him. Should I tell him he's with you?"

But Tony is unresponsive because the spiderguy spins around with his mask in his hand and Tony is face to face with none other than Peter James Stark. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The summary is a line from a song by Queen Florence Welch, who I have loved since 2011. It's called Queen of Peace
> 
> But YES. DUN DUN DUNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DUN DUNNN DUUUUNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Talk me to me in the comments, pretty please! Let us freak out together! Remember I don't do things TO you, I am experiencing this WITH you! So let's experience, yes yes!
> 
> While you wait for the next chapter, 
> 
> Go be happy!


	8. Can Opened, Worms..Everywhere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Tony knows what’s important.” -Bethany

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! In this chapter, there is a brief, one line mentioned of self harm, and anxiety and panic attacks, so please be safe and careful if this is something that can trigger or harm you in anyway. 
> 
> I can always give you a synopsis of this chapter with a less heavy plot line. My tumblr is mogoona3000 and I can answer all questions there!!! If you’d like another platform to speak, comment below and I shall provide!
> 
> Also,  
ugh, you guys are so sweet and I am so HAPPY you are having such a great time reading this!  
THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS AND YOUR EXCITEMENT! AND FOR READING!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH FOR READING!<3000
> 
> But yes! Let’s get down to business! To defeat—huh, huh—the angst! HUH!  
You know where we left off, so..ARE YOU READY?! 
> 
> ENJOY!

_“Peter, be careful! What are you doing?” Tony turns away for _two seconds_ to grab a shirt while in the walk-in closet and Peter is climbing up drawer by drawer, Tony grabbing him right before he falls back. _

_"The blue, up there!" Peter answers with his tiny upper body turned towards the blue jacket Tony has hanging with the rest of the apparently less interesting colored ones. He holds Peter against him, the kid looking at him expectantly with his big brown eyes._

_"You want my blue jacket?"_

_"Yeah!"_

_"Why?"_

_"I wanna be like you in my favorite color!"_

_ Tony can’t help the small chuckle that his response elicits as he grabs the jacket and tries to explain to Peter that it won't fit him and even if it did, he only has one of those to match._

_"Next time you need something you can't reach, you ask me, alright? No climbing."_

_"Okiedokie," Peter gives Tony one big nod. Tony walks out of the closet as JARVIS announces Rhodey is waiting for Tony in the kitchen. Being almost three has proven to be Peter's stage of curiosity and trying to prove his independence. _

_As he reaches the stairs, Peter is laughing every time Tony bounces a little as he counts down each step. Pepper is waiting for them at the foot of the staircase sporting a smile that turns into the softest chuckle. She takes Peter from his arms when the kid sees her and as she does, Tony tells her to order matching suits for them as he goes and meets Rhodey in the kitchen. _

_—_

_Peter is wearing his rain boots and a yellow raincoat when he’s out in the backyard after a rainy Sunday afternoon. He begged and cried and wailed to play in the rain, but the best Tony could do was let him out after it passed. He will have to reconsider letting him watch that new British show with that talking pig that likes the muddy puddles. They both wear matching black rain boots and raincoats, Peter’s request for matching clothes since he turned three a few months ago still going strong. Tony's power of no is practically nonexistent when it comes to the puppy eyes Peter wears so well. He stands by the pool with his hands in the pocket of the coat, watching the floaties float on with sprinkled raindrops. When he looks over to Peter, he loses sight of him and sees the playhouse that needs replacing shaking instead. Rushing over, he finds Peter trying to climb up from the back of it. _

_“Pete, what are you doing?” he is asking as he sprints over across the backyard. _

_“I need to save it, it’s stuck,” he struggles to say as he climbs up the back of the house, and Tony rushing over to catch him before he gets too high. “No, daddy wait!”_

_Tony removes him from the house and stands him on the wet grass. Peter starts pointing to the top of it, where his teddybear is soaked and stuck at the very top it. He won't even ask how that happened._

_“I can help you if you ask me, squirt. You could’ve gotten really hurt with tons of boo-boos and crying. Not fun, you understand? We don't need that."_

_Peter nods as Tony speaks while reaching for the teddy bear, needing to climb a couple of steps higher himself to get it. _

_The house is thrown out the next day. Peter doesn't notice its absence._

_— _

_ “Get down, kid!” Tony rushes to the counter and grabs Peter in his arms, holding him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Cabinets are opened as if they were a staircase leading all the way up to Peter standing on the counter and trying to open the cupboard. “What are you doing?” _

_ “Cookie!” _

_ “_Ask_. I could get them for you, kiddo. What if you fall? That's not fun.” _

_ Peter deflates against Tony’s shoulder, going limp with a really small whine in the back of his throat as Tony heads back into the living room. _

_ “I can do it, daddy.” _

_ Tony sets him on the couch, pushing his hair back from his face. The fourth birthday haircut time is around the corner. Two more weeks. Tony can't seem to understand where the time has gone as he crouches in front of Peter and shakes his head with a small grin on his lips. _

_ “Let me help you until no cabinets are needed, yeah?”_

—

_ When Tony looks over to Peter while he reads over the new designs for the suit, Peter is wearing his own goggles on the table, Tony helping him unscrew the back of the computer he’s trying to disable. _

_ “I can do it, dad.” _

_ “I know you can,” Tony says as he slides closer to him and unscrews the back of it for the kid. “But I like to help you. Just a little push.” _

_ “Thanks,” Peter says and concentrates on the open back of the laptop, wires exposed and ready to be tinkered with. Tony smiles at the sight and continues to go over what he has planned for the suit. _

—

_At least once a week for the next year and some change, Tony is either alerted by JARVIS, finds him himself, or is told by either Pepper or Rhodey about Peter climbing the cabinets to get chocolate chip cookies. _

—

_ “Peter. You are too old for this.” _

_ There he is, standing on the counter with the bag of cookies in his hands. Not just a couple, but the entire package of the chocolate chip cookies. He stops chewing as he holds the bag against his chest, looking side to side while Tony looks up at him completely unamused. _

_ “J, you think if I stay very still, he won't see me?” Peter quietly says, staring directly at Tony._

_ “Your chances are slim. I say you give it a go either way.” _

_ Tony shakes his head as he walks over to the counter, asking JARVIS to refrain from helping any further. Peter sighs and finishes the cookie in his mouth as he sits down on the counter with Tony’s help. _

_ “Ask me to get them for you or I’ll stop buying them,” Tony says as he takes the packet of cookies and takes one, putting it in his mouth. He gives two to Peter and puts the bag back in its place. _

_ “Maybe if you put them in a place where I can reach them, I wouldn’t have to climb like a monkey every time I want a cookie.” _

_ “If I do that, you’ll become nothing but chocolate and I want to be able to hug you and not be all sticky afterwards,” Tony responds as he picks him up and puts him over his shoulder with a small grunt, Peter not fighting the pick up as he continues to eat his cookies while propped on Tony’s shoulder. “Wait, what do you mean ‘every time?’ I thought that phase was over?” _

_ The kid goes limp against him at the sound of the question and Tony makes it all the way to the couch, throwing him down on it but Peter doesn’t react and stays perfectly still. _

_ “JARVIS, does my 8-year-old climb kitchen cabinets to reach the cookies without my knowledge?” _

_ “JARVIS, tell him I’m nine in five days and that I don’t do that.” _

_ JARVIS tells Tony exactly what Peter just directed him to say and when Tony asks if any of it it’s true, it turns out Peter is always on some high adrenaline mission to get the cookies. Old habits die hard._

—

_ Tony puts the cookies in a place where Peter can get them without struggle, the kid finally able to reach with ease. Tony makes sure he knows that he will keep track of the cookies, and that if a certain amount is missing by a certain time or day, there will be no cookies in the house anymore. _

_ Peter does his best to keep the deal, even if there is always one cookie less than expected when Tony checks those few times. _

—

Tony’s fears walk in all at once when he recognizes the warmth and life in Peter’s eyes. It’s not a robot, it’s not a clone. It’s really him. _Peter_. He feels his breathing starting to pick up, and the sudden anxiety that rises up in his chest has him stumbling for the seat behind him. He seems at a loss for words, though he feels the internal as equally eternal scream, loud and violent. Peter said he would figure out a way to help Tony after New York and Tony knew it was a matter of time before the kid built his own suit. That’s why he was so grateful for Bruce being around, becoming his friend and steering him in the Bruce Banner side of heroics instead of the Hulk one. Peter continues to stare at him like a deer in headlights, walking slowly towards him with his arms stretched out as if to be ready to restrain Tony from a bad episode of hysterics. Peter's mouth is moving but he can’t hear anything. 

All he hears is Peter’s laughter and his complaints about being able to do things on his own since he could _formulate the words_. He turns around to look behind him, hoping to see Wanda there, but he knows..because it’s Tony Stark and things just happen around him, to him..for him..he _knows.._She will be nowhere near this nightmare. This isn’t anything other than Tony thinking he could have some sort of peace and whatever higher power mocking him. This is his naivety thinking his karma was finally over. 

FRIDAY is instructing Tony to take a deep breath overhead, taking charge in the protocols Pepper set in case of panic attacks. Tony can’t stop staring at Peter, who has stopped talking but his eyes are full of fear and worry as Tony absentmindedly does as FRIDAY tells him. 

“Very good, boss. Steady breaths.”

Tony does it, a bit more present in the room now. That protocol hasn't been active in a while. What the _hell_ is going _on_? 

“You’re getting an incoming call from Ryan,” FRIDAY announces then but Tony can’t do much at the moment. He can barely _breathe_.

“Okay..dad, just calm down, okay? Your—I can hear your heart and it’s going really fast still. Keep breathing.”

“_What?” _ It surprises Tony that he is even able to formulate a response to that _absurd_ observation. His _ heart_? Peter can hear his _heart_? 

Something snaps into Tony’s consciousness and he turns around to see if Wanda is behind him again, but she isn’t. So Tony closes his eyes, realizing she wouldn’t be _in _ the vision were she to be triggering it. He waits for it to pass and he promises that young lady is going to get an earful. 

But then Peter is walking over to Tony again, crouching down in front of him.

“Dad? Hey, dad?”

That stupid onesie. He’s wearing that stupid onesie. Tony can’t seem to wrap his head around what he’s seeing. 

“FRIDAY, tell Ryan I’m here, that dad will see him in the morning before school.”

“Will do, Peter.”

“_Dad._”

Tony is in and out of the room, trying to remove his entire_ existence_ from this horror. He forces himself to be present at the sound of Peter’s concern and looks down at him, focused on the kid’s sweaty face, his hair sticking to his forehead. There’s a smudge of dirt on his chin and Tony sees the worry in his round eyes as he stares at him. 

“You with me?”

“Peter, what—” But Tony still can’t say anything coherent. He closes his eyes and tries to breathe again, the only thing he can seem to accomplish because the breaking of his voice stings just like his eyes begin to. Because Peter doesn’t have to be in his armor to face danger, a onesie will do the trick. 

The vision from the whole Ultron fiasco settles so heavy before him, Tony has to force himself to open his eyes and see that Peter is not, in fact, laying very still next to his friends inside his Iron Man suit. It’s not real. Not yet anyway—he’s going to throw up. He's frozen. Stuck. In shock. Unable to move from where he sits. It’s Peter that stares at him with water gathering in his eyes. It hurts. Wanda isn’t going to show up and that somehow hurts even more. 

“What..is this?” Tony whispers, slow and demanding. “What did you _ do_?”

Tony takes Peter’s shoulders and gives them a small shake while he speaks, and Peter, never one to shy away from what he’s feeling, thank God for Pepper’s presence in his life all these years, drops his head as tears begin to fall from his eyes. He stands back up and steps back, helplessly shrugging towards Tony. 

He looks so much older when he does that, as if his teenage years have come and gone in the same night. 

“Peter..I _swear_. You..Stop. Just _ stop_.” Tony starts talking with his hands, moving them as if to grasp something in mid air that can give him the solution to this..this.. “Stop. Resign. Whatever this—”

“I can’t do that, dad.”

Tony stands from his seat then, not breaking eye contact and feeling a lot more present in the room, as if the kid’s defiance wakes him. He takes two strides towards Peter, and Peter backs up with a mild panic in his eyes as his jaw sets. 

“_Don’t give me that shit_,” he growls out, quiet and furious now. “You stop this _right now_.” 

“I-I can’t. You don’t understand, I—”

“I understand, Peter,” he interrupts, staring directly at him, his voice low and menacing now. “That’s all I do. All I do is understand but we’ve reached the limit. This is the end of that dance. How are you doing it? Huh? Adhesive gloves? How are you stopping _ fucking cars _from hitting oncoming busses! Peter! Jesus Christ!”

Peter’s shoulders shake as he drops his head and Tony steps back, looking to the side with both his hands on his hips. He needs—he wants—Tony shuts his eyes because at least he can stop it. It hasn’t gotten too far. He can take the tech away, and it hasn't been more than six months of this. There's a chance. Not all hope is lost. 

“Take off the onesie. Shower. Meet me in the living room in fifteen minutes.”

Peter doesn’t respond as he unceremoniously wipes his nose with the back of his hand. 

“Peter, did you hear me?”

“Yes, sir.”

Tony needs to calm down so he walks past the kid and out of the room. When he reaches his own bedroom, Tony stumbles onto his bed and tells FRIDAY through bated breaths to tell him when Peter is ready and waiting for him. Desperate, not knowing what to do, afraid for his kid’s life, Tony closes his eyes as he lays on his back across the mattress, his chest tightening and his heart not slowing down. 

Peter is wearing his pajamas as he is sitting on the couch when Tony enters the living room, his head down, his hair damped and his eyes closed. He doesn’t say anything when he sits next to Peter, attempting to be reasonable, so he remains quiet because those fifteen minutes he spent in his room where solely for breathing and not passing out from the anxiety. Nothing could've prepared him for this and as much he tries to be cool and..reasonable, it’s not easy to accept your kid is voluntarily looking for trouble to stop. So much for the Banner Side of Heroics. 

“Dad, just...take a deep breath. I can hear your heart—”

But Peter stops talking, sitting back when Tony snaps his head towards him. 

“What do you mean _ my heart? _ You can _ hear my heart?” _

Hesitant, Peter nods. 

“_How_, Peter? You have some sort of hearing device? How—what did you create? _ How _did you create it? With what time—how did you—_how_?”

“How what—”

“All of it, dammit!”

Tony stands because he’s panicking. He can’t hide the fact that he’s panicking. Peter in danger and Tony fighting to prevent that. He wants to laugh at the mockery, at the fact that Peter walks right into what could possibly be his last day. He's having trouble breathing, he can feel it. Good _ God_, life as they know it will end if Peter ends up fighting a battle that’s not his win. 

“How?” Tony asks again, closing his eyes and regaining his breath as he stands in front of Peter with his hands on his waist and head bowed. He’s so tired, all of a sudden the need for sleep is all his mind wants to think about. 

Peter doesn’t answer and Tony is trying not to give any attention to his hands shaking. He hasn’t felt those tremors in almost three years. The kid remains silent and Tony slowly sits on the edge of the coffee table, head still bowed and hands together. Because it’s his _son; _it was Peter all this time. He is stopping muggers, getting _stabbed_ according to the news, and then the horror strikes Tony from head to toe. He lifts his head up and apparently his expression leaves nothing to the imagination because Peter’s tears fall automatically as he tries to tell Tony to take deep breaths and mentions his heart again. 

He’s not going to assume anything. He doesn’t even know what to conclude. He needs Peter to talk, and needs him to do it now. 

“How..how are you..managing all of this?”

“I..”

But he continues to remain silent and his lower lip trembles as he averts his eyes from Tony’s. He wants to stand again but his legs feel like jelly and he’s afraid he will go down like a log if he does manage to stand up.

“Tell me about your debate team.” Because Tony knows now. He knows. 

Peter shakes his head with his eyes closed, his soft cries something Tony should take as an answer but he won’t. 

“Tell me about your debate team, Peter.”

“There’s..I’m not..part of the debate team,” he quietly sobs out. 

“Robotics club? Band? Business society? Spanish club? Photography? Journal of biology? Bioethics? Science olympiad? How are you pulling it off? _Decathlon_? I mean, I go to your meets! You have Ryan _drop you off _and when I check your location, you are where you say you’re gonna be, so-so- and Ryan brings you home. How—Peter, you’ve got to tell me what’s going on. Are you this spiderguy? Is that—but it doesn't explain the strength—I—”

Tony's vocal cords struggle to continue as he tries to understand, as he tries to regain his composure. He thinks about it but it doesn't make _sense. _He brings his hands to his hair, pulling it and not caring who sees, who knows: he's spiraling, he's panicking, he's freaking the hell out. The news has caught the spiderguy get hurt, there have been bullets, there have been stabbings, there have been ATM assaults gone _wrong_. The spiderguy has gotten beat up. Peter can barely go a week in the winter without getting the sniffles every other day, he can't see past his nose without glasses or contacts. He lives on a diet of junk food no matter how many times he gets reprimanded to eat healthy to grow fully and strong. 

“Dad, just breathe, alright?”

“My left arm is going numb, is that normal?” Tony breathes out, halfheartedly and noticing he’s on the ground when he has Peter kneeling in front of him, his face wet and trying to dictate Tony’s breathing pattern. 

“Are-are you serious? Dad, that’s a heart—”

“I’m fine, I’m fine. Just..” Tony drops his head back with a sigh, shutting his eyes again. Again. Again again again. He stays on the ground and rubs the scar where the reactor used to be under his shirt. “You’re not the spiderguy, right?”

Peter swallows dry and sits straight, directly in front of Tony with his legs crossed against him. He nods. 

“Tell me how.”

The kid looks down and begins to play with his hands and lets out a shuddering sigh, looking up at Tony with so much guilt, Tony has no idea what to expect. 

“Tell me what you used. How are you doing it, Peter?"

Nothing. He keeps looking at him with tears and apologies and almost pleading to be let go.

"Dammit, kid! Just answer me!”

He doesn’t mean to snap but when he discovers his son is the number one vigilante out there being hunted and shot at on a daily basis, he tends to lose his cool. 

“My..” Peter lets out another breath as he looks down at his hands, “I think..my mom’s, my real mom’s research..worked.” Peter looks up at Tony then and fresh, thick tears fall from his eyes when he quietly says to Tony that he is almost “positive..they killed her over it.”

Tony’s throat closes and the anxiety that this is all bringing up is going to send him to the emergency room. His mind is not processing the information fast enough. All he hears is Mary. Murder. Peter. Haunt. Kill. Tony doesn't know—how is—Peter. _Peter_. The kid's cries continue to be all too reserved for the severity of what he's disclosing. Tony is not handling any of this well, but when Peter leans over to him on his knees again and places his hand on his father's chest, shushing _ him _ and telling _him_ to calm down, that Peter is fine, while the kid _ sobs _as his head is bowed_ and his shoulders shake, _Tony wonders if Peter can also hear his heart breaking at the sight. 

He pulls himself together. He has to. It's Peter. Anything for Peter. All for Peter. 

“You’re telling me..cross-species genetics..”

Peter sits back down and nods at Tony’s unfinished sentence once he sees Tony is breathing a bit more steady. “Oscorp has a restricted section. I was able to access it and they have..hundreds of genetically modified spiders. They have mom’s research but it hasn’t been successful. The spiders either bite to kill or nothing happens. There’s no in-between.”

Restricted section the kid was able to access. Peter Stark, never failing to impress him.

“A spider bit you, Peter? One of those spiders..bit you?”

Peter nods, his eyes less fearful and more hopeful for something Tony can’t even decode. 

“That’s how you’re doing all of this? Because of a spider bite? You—”

“Boss, incoming call from Secretary of State, Tha—”

“FRIDAY, I need you to hold the calls.”

“Which—”

“All of them.”

FRIDAY doesn’t respond, but Tony knows she’ll do as he says. 

Tony sighs and begins to stand from his spot, his legs still like jell-o but standing nonetheless and afraid to ask his next question. Because Peter is brilliant, and he could’ve built adhesive gloves and constructed a—but it doesn’t..Peter is bare at the moment. Just his pajamas so Tony turns to him and Peter has stood up too, nervous and playing with his hands as he stares at Tony. 

“If the spiders..kill or have no effect, how are you..”

“Boss, my protocols have been overridden. Steve Rogers is on the Avengers line for you.”

Tony stares at Peter who doesn’t answer with his words but with his eyes. Tony is going to throw up. This is a lot more..a lot more than he’d ever expected. He’s not surprised though. It has been way too quiet around here.

“Transfer the call to the shop, tell him I’ll be with him in a minute.” 

They stare at each other and Tony realizes right then that he’s more hurt due to Peter’s constant lying, and hiding this from him, not confiding in him. It just shows that the kid did slip from him. Aces. 

“I’m sorry I hid this from you but I knew—I knew that you’d freak out and you wouldn’t let me do it—” Peter stutters when Tony starts to walk away and towards the shop, no idea how he's even managing so well right now. 

“You’re right. I’m not letting you do this—” He cuts Peter off without turning around to face him. 

“Dad, please, no—listen to me—” Peter is following behind him but Tony has to make him understand. _ He _needs to understand. 

“No, Peter. _ No. _ Are you serious?” Tony stops walking, causing Peter to stop mid walk and almost bumping into him. “This is bigger than you stopping..muggers and helping..old ladies cross the street—this is—”

“No, listen to me. _Listen_,” Peter steps closer in an almost desperate manner and begins to explain to Tony whatever it is Tony doesn’t want to hear. “I’m good, dad. The people, they—like me. They like—they feel safe when I’m around. I protect them. How is that different than what you do?”

He needs to be in the room completely and in the right headspace for this specific conversation. Right now, it isn't the time. Steve is on the line with an emergency that Tony doesn’t know if he’s grateful for or not. He sniffs, trying to recollect any sense of sanity he has left. His eyes don't leave Peter's. 

“Please, dad.”

“We’ll talk about it when we come back from Cambridge.”

“What?”

“You’re coming to MIT with me.”

“What? But I have—”

“What? Robotics club? Bioethics? You’re coming. End of discussion.”

“But—no!”

“_End-of discussion. _We leave first thing in the morning. Pack for three days. I'll call the school and Ryan." He turns to walk away but stops and turns back to face Peter. "Does he know?"

With a shake of his head, Tony watches him, studying his eyes. 

"He _doesn't_," the kid replies, cold and hard. He stands straight with his hands at his side and Tony can see the anger bubbling in the way he stares at him. 

“I’m not trying to ruin your life, kid. Quite the opposite, actually. Go pack.” He doesn’t stay to see Peter’s reaction to that. 

He walks into the shop and feels the need to self-combust when Steve tells him about Lagos, the casualties and what is sure to be the aftermath of such mistake. It all clicks then as to why Ross had called in the first place. Tony understands—go figure, him understanding—It all starts to make sense. When he returns Ross' call, Tony is out of the voting committee and the decision has been made for him. He doesn’t even know what the regulations are, just that Ross speaks to the team in five days.

After he showers, Tony sits on his bed, his thoughts running. How he misses Pepper right now. His mind, though, goes to videos and footage of the spiderguy without his permission, the spiderguy that turns out to be Peter, and out of panic and impulsivity, he asks FRIDAY where the kid is. The A.I informs him he’s in the workshop and so, Tony goes and silently enters the lab, Peter stationed by his perspective table, moving and working and building.

“Trouble sleeping?” Because at the end of the day, spiderguy or no spiderguy, it's his Peter. His favorite guy in the whole _universe_. Even if the kid disagrees on Tony's methods, when it comes to his well being, Tony will go to whatever extremities he has to in order to protect him. That, he's not sorry about. His relationship with Peter is the most important thing he's ever had, and he'll be damned if a spiderbite takes it from him.

Peter doesn’t look up, stirring whatever he’s concocting in the beaker until Tony sees the end result and slowly moves over to him, trying to get a better view of what he thinks he’s seeing. 

“Oh, my God,” he whispers as he stands next to Peter, in a complete shock he hasn't experienced since he first heard Peter call Pepper by "mom" by mistake, and then kept doing it occasionally when he was too into whatever he was talking about while referring to her. He is staring at the beakers, watching Peter refill what Tony is sure is his cartridges for the webshooters. “You’re the guy. _You_ manufactured that?”

Peter doesn't answer, moving and cleaning up as he goes, lab coat on and goggles on. He moves with ease, in a perfect rhythm and complete silence. Tony is too caught up on how Peter is doing what he is doing to realize _Peter_ is the one doing it. Until Tony grabs a pair of goggles himself and accidentally knocks over a beaker behind him. When he goes to see the damage, he takes too big a step and stumbles into the stool by the broken glass, but Peter grabs his arm before he falls right onto it. Tony looks at the grip the kid has on his elbow and then up at him, straightening up as Peter lets go. The silence continues. 

With a deep breath in and then out, Tony pushes his thumb and index finger against his closed eyes, tired and ready for a 30-year-long nap. “I need you to go rest, Peter. Tomorrow’s a long a day.”

Without a word, Peter takes off the goggles, grabs his things and pats DUM-E on his way out as U and Butterfingers begin cleaning up the shattered glass. Tony watches Peter walk out of the shop, tall and steady and that’s when he realizes. Right then. It’s not disobedience, it’s that..stubbornness to do the right thing no matter what. That lack of self-preservation he had always had—that stupid, _stupid_ "we have the power so it’s our responsibility" mentality..Tony touches the scar on his chest again, and sits on the stool closest to him and furthest away from the cleaning bots. So Peter's. 

Peter, as much of Pepper as he has in his way of being, he has Tony's blood running through his veins. With a look to the doors the kid walked out of again, he begins to understand Pepper's concern; he gets it a little more as to why she can't stand by and just..watch Tony run head first into life or death situations when he doesn't necessarily have to, in her opinion. But knowing who he is, what he can prevent with the power he possesses..he also understands Peter. And so, instead of sleeping, he works on the webshooters for the kid’s suit.

He'll move the cookies to a feasible place. He'll check on the kid, and if the cookies are eaten all in one sitting, meaning that if he gets hurt beyond anything Tony can survive, Tony will literally aim and shoot the repulsor right into his mouth. It really would be that simple. 

—

Peter is sitting by the peninsula eating his cereal when Tony steps into the kitchen later that day from his two hour nap, coffee already brewing. If FRIDAY had a figure, Tony is sure she would be a redhead. The Starks move around each other in silence, and when Peter is done and Tony has his travel mug ready to go, Peter carries both bags and Tony's suits to hang from the backseat door to the car. Tony doesn't question how he can do it without losing his breath because this is their new reality and there's nothing that can be done about it.

“You have your glasses?” Tony calls as they reach the garage, Peter walking ahead as Tony takes the hangers with his jackets from Peter's hand. 

“Don’t need ‘em,” the kid answers as he puts the bags in the trunk of the car and gets in the passenger seat. 

Tony doesn’t ask about that either. They ride in radio silence the entire way to MIT. 

Peter waits behind the curtains of the auditorium while Tony heads to the restroom after the MIT September Foundation presentation and funding for students. It's been quite a while but even seeing Pepper's name on the teleprompter stings. Now more than ever. He feels like he's walking on thin ice that will break from under him any second.

Charlie Spencer's mom pushes him down by his shoulders and the ice breaks, Tony sinking down into the freezing water underneath him. She walks away and leaves Tony with the picture of a smiling boy. And all he sees in that still is all he's ever done wrong, all he shouldn't have done, all he could've done to prevent the boy from dying because of him. It's all in that smile Charlie wears. 

Dear God. How selfish, how self-centered he must be as he looks down at the picture again, walking back with his knees growing weaker as he does. Because he doesn't want to know that pain. He's so sorry he caused it. He keeps looking at the picture and then..then..then, right there smiling back at him isn't Charlie anymore. It's Peter. 

Tony looks up and sees Peter's urgent steps towards him, meeting him halfway down the corridor. Looking back and seeing that Charlie’s mom is gone at the sound of the elevator doors closing, Tony shuts his eyes when Peter hugs him. Hugs him like he hasn’t in almost two days. 

His breathing picks up, subtly gasping for it as if the interaction pulled him from drowning in the ice water he just fell into.

“You okay, dad?”

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” Tony hugs Peter tight against him, his chin on top of his head as he whispers, shutting his eyes in a breath. "Fine."

In the car, after they decide to go home and stroll down MIT another time, they settle back into silence. Until Peter breaks it five minutes in. 

“You can’t always save everyone, dad. That's just the way that goes.”

Tony’s jaw tightens at the sound of Peter’s words, hardening his grip around the steering wheel. Peter heard the entire conversation from where he was standing. Tony really wants to know if he is capable of hearing his heart shattering. 

When they get home that night, Peter brings up the bags, refusing to let Tony do it. He drops his keys on the counter as Peter leaves their luggage by the elevator doors and lays the jackets on the couch. He walks back to him, slowly and anxiously while playing with his hands. Tony stands by the kitchen island and rests his elbows against the counter, dropping his head with a breath and a need to sleep. He wants to sleep so bad but he's afraid of what he'll see when he does. 

"Do you need anything, dad?" Peter's voice is small and full of concern. Tony shakes his head, not lifting his eyes to see him.

"I'm fine, kid." His throat is hurting from restraining the sudden need to cry and not comprehending where the need is coming from. Could be one thing, could be all of them. He doesn't even care at this point.

Let them all come.

"Dad?"

"Yeah." He can't look up as he answers, his voice hoarse and giving up his state of mind when he speaks. He can't even move. The weight on his chest and the way his eyes water without permission have him paralyzed in his spot. 

"Hey, hey..It's alright." When Peter puts his hand on Tony's back, Tony bows his head further down and tries to swallow it all down, whatever wants to come up. "Please..what's..what is it?"

The way the past 48hrs have turned out begins designating his every thought and Tony stands straight when he realizes that there is no other way to continue on. He has to stand up. He always has to stand up. He looks at Peter but the kid doesn't return the very forced grin Tony puts on for him.

"What is it?" he asks again, calm and patient. 

Tony cannot fix this one. Charlie Spencer can't be undone. Pepper is not coming back to him because he can’t stop. He cannot stop. Even if no one understands, if no one believes him, it's not—he cannot stop.

His son is a vigilante, an enhanced human whose DNA is the only one who can take the merge with that of the scientific discovery Mary Parker made. Tony doesn't have to dig too deep into that one to come to that conclusion and having it be correct. That kid, the son of the wealthiest man in the world, the most hated and loved superhero, the son of Mary Parker, “mad scientist” and former employee of the kid's father’s rival company, _that_ kid. That kid who Oscorp is definitely monitoring now that there is a spiderguy running around and one of their spiders is missing. They can’t publically persecute him because from what Peter was able to tell him last night, they’re doing illegal experiments. _That_ kid is in far more danger than he even realizes. And Tony, like the coward he is, wants to drown in alcohol and move far, do what Clint did. Just go away with his kid and never be seen again. 

That kid that looks back at him with his eyes wide and still carrying an innocence Tony doesn't want to taint, that kid that will go against Tony's wishes to do the right thing, just like Tony knows he would too were he in Peter’s shoes, just like Tony _has _done. Tony has to roll with the punches. He has to resign from Pepper, has to understand and work with Peter on this whole thing. They have to be a unit, and as much as Tony can't stand Peter being in the line of fire, he will go against Tony and _do it anyway._

Might as well be by his side and have him in real tech instead of that stupid onesie. 

"We need to talk, Pete. I have questions that need to be answered."

"Yes, sir," Peter answers as Tony drops his hand on the kid's shoulder, "we can talk. I'm..I'm sorry, dad. About everything, but you have to understand...This is..I'm good, dad. I'm just like you."

That doesn't help Peter's case in the slightest, and it brings Tony to actual tears. He tries to stop them from coming but they fall either way and Peter's small smile falls when he sees them. 

"Dad.."

"I'm fine. I—it's been.._a long_ day, kid."

Before Peter can answer, his phone goes off with what Tony recognizes as Ned's ringtone. Tony wipes at his eyes and lets go of Peter, telling him to answer the phone. Peter tells him he can call Ned back, but Tony insists, walking to the fridge and grabbing a water bottle. He leans against the counter, behind the sink and watches Peter's demeanor change as he stands straight and firm, the mannerisms indicating Tony something isn't right. 

"Which bank is it?" Peter asks, his tone too serious for the quirky, nerdy kid he has.

Tony sets his water bottle down and follows Peter as he starts his urgent walk towards the corridors and to his room. 

"What's going on?" Tony asks as he stands by the frame of the door, confused and alarmed now. 

Peter is heading to his dresser as he sets the phone on his bed, Ned on speakerphone now. When Tony watches Peter literally _lift_ his dresser with one hand and take out the onesie from underneath it, he feels his eyes grow twice their size. Like nothing happened, the kid begins unbuttoning his shirt and freezing at the sight of Tony once he turns around with the onesie in his hand. 

"Dad—"

"Your—Mr. Stark is there? Oh..shit, Peter! Did he see you?"

Peter looks at Tony for a second longer and starts undressing with an apology in his eyes. 

"Ned, send me your location," Peter loudly asks and Tony is still in shock from what he just witnessed with the dresser. 

"You got it, Spider-Man."

And Tony hates Ned right in that moment because when the kid is focused, Tony can see Spider-Man coming right out of him. A complete natural. Captain would be proud. 

"What's—where are you going? What's going on?"

"FRIDAY, can you synch my phone to your drive and display the location Ned sent me, please?" He looks to Tony as he takes off his shoes, moving a lot faster than he was before once Ned is off the line. "My friends—Abe and MJ—" he starts explaining, sliding into the blue sweats, "there was a bank robbery on their way back from school, they got caught in the heat of it. Ned was in the store next to it, and they were waiting outside—I have to go, they need me."

"Hold up, kid. Slow down." Tony enters the room, walking over to Peter with his arms stretched towards him trying to calm him.

"Dad, please. You have to let me go. You _have_ to." 

Tony's mind runs and runs, arms dropping, until it finds its perfect spot to rest on. 

_“I can do it, dad.”_

_“I know you can,” Tony says as he slides closer to him and unscrews the back of it for the kid. “But I like to help you. Just a little push.”_

"Come with me to the shop." It's a decision. He knows it's the best one right now. "FRIDAY, open the case. Send coordinates to both our suits."

"Done and done, boss," she answers almost immediately as Tony begins to walk out of Peter's room, the kid tripping on his pants that are halfway up his legs as he follows.

"Wait, what?"

"Come on, Spider-Man," Tony says as they enter the shop, "knowing Tony Stark means you kick ass in style."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony isn’t perfect but he has heart. More than most. 
> 
> So yes. Hope you liked this chapter:)  
Thank you thank you thank you so much for reading! I cannot thank you enough for deciding to read this along with me!<3000
> 
> Go be happy!


	9. The Heart of the Lion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> -Now that I've worn out the world,  
I'm on my knees in fascination-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this took FOREVER. But when I was going over it to make sure it was okay to post, I didn't like it enough to share it so I had to rewrite it. The whole thing. And then after I did that, I still wasn't sure if it was ready to be posted.
> 
> And then I almost gave up on the whole series, but all I can do is all I can do and all I can do is enough. So!
> 
> Here we are. With a big update that I hope you like. 
> 
> Are you ready?!
> 
> Enjoy!<3000

Peter takes exactly five seconds to have his big hero moment when he tries on the suit as the Iron Man armor begins to link around Tony. He watches Peter stare at himself on the glass door as he slowly walks towards it, this moment something they will both remember for as long as humanly possible. Tony can’t help the grin as the helmet closes around his head and the HUD displays the information they received from Ned to head to Queens. 

“Dad, one thing before we go."

The helmet retracts at the sound of Peter’s words, Tony syncing him to the comms as the kid turns around to face him and walks down the steps to meet him on the ground again.

“You have to let me do my job. You cannot freak out and you _have_ to trust me.”

Tony swallows dry because, right. Bank robbery. Hostages. Gun shooting at them, at _Peter_. Did he just say his _job_? His _job_. This is _Tony's_ job if it was to be assigned to anybody. Not _Peter's_. 

“I have experience in this sort of thing, kid—”

“Right, I know, but so do I—”

“Yeah, Pete, but,” Tony begins as he starts walking out of the shop with the helmet closing around him as they head over to their exit points, the armor’s thud at every step always filling Tony with adrenaline before they even begin, “how many times have _you_ saved the world?” They reach the balcony in Tony's room, the most discreet exit point for Iron Man to fly out with Spider-Man in tow. The kid crouches on the railing of it, looking into the city perfectly still as Tony's flight power initiates and he's now hovering over the city while looking at Peter. 

"This isn't the world, Mr. Stark. It's a bank robbery, if you recall. How many of those have _you_ stopped?” Peter solutes and stands on the railing, and before Tony can tell him to watch out, he's already dropping towards the ground. 

If it weren’t because it was his son in that suit, Tony would’ve thought it was a very cool and, for lack of a better word, strong exit. But it _is_ his son in the suit and as cool and perfectly smooth as that was, Tony’s heart rate spikes and his voice gets shot at the sight of Peter still falling. 

“Boss, Peter is alright. Breathe,” FRIDAY instructs as Peter shoots a web to the closest building and Tony hears him cheering and hollering as he swings and does it again, again and again. 

“This is gonna be a lot harder than I thought,” Tony mumbles to himself, still in the same spot as he continues to watch Peter. 

“Come on, old man! Keep up! We got people to save!”

Tony lets out a breathless chuckle of surprise as he watches Peter swing in the distance, moving through the city _effortlessly_, dare Tony say _artistically_, and talking to the civilians who recognize him. All of his worries and panic aside, it’s very much a proud dad moment. 

“Right behind you, Spider-Man." 

Tony would’ve never guessed the first thing he would say about the crime fighting spider of Queens is that he is, in fact, _ hilarious_. When they arrive at the scene and speak to the authorities, set out a game plan that practically forces Tony to be used as a distraction and nothing more, Ned freaks out and starts recording Iron Man and Spider-Man in action together, Tony notices how well Peter can manage himself. He’s fast and lighthearted, chatty and uses whatever he can to his advantage against his enemies. He's almost..friendly, aside from the punches and webbing her gives out, and very witty, confident enough to know he can save the people but also aware he's not immortal; Spider-Man gets the job done. 

Peter is a natural and Tony notices the moves he definitely got from watching the team training all those Saturdays. It makes sense why the sudden obsession with watching training sessions those few weeks back.

"I'm gonna kill you, you hear me? When I get out of this—"

Peter shoots a web at the guy threatening him while pinned against the wall, shutting him up, dismissing it way too nonchalantly for Tony's taste as he helps the hostages up, making sure they are all alright. He leads them outside, telling the police they are going to scan the place for any nuclear weapons they might've installed and heads back in the bank. 

Peter finishes tightening the rest of the guys he tied against each other, excitedly talking to Tony about this being "the best thing, oh my—Mr. Stark?"

But Tony is heading towards the man that's webbed up against the wall and aims his repulsor directly at his chest. 

"Mr. Stark, what are you doing! Wait, wait!" Peter stands between the guy and the gauntlet, arms stretched out towards him and pushing him back. "He's done. We got them. What are you doing?"

Tony's darkness makes a strong debut in Peter's presence when he tries to aim his repulsor again, staring right at the guy, who is visibly sweating. 

"_Dad_," Peter whispers as he holds his shoulders and bringing his arm down. He speaks low enough that Tony hears it louder in the comms than out of Peter's mouth. Tony takes a step back and scans the room in silence, no weapons. Just a bunch of assholes. 

“You did good, Spiderling,” Tony says while looking around because he has to calm down.

Peter’s head snaps over Tony, looking up at him as the eyes on the mask widen. Tony chuckles at the sight and it feels like his anger exits his lungs when he does. The kid sheepishly scratches the back of his head with a small “thank you, sir.”

Before Tony can let his gratitude sink in, the police and SWAT team burst into the bank, guns pointing at the robbers and _Peter_. 

"Uh, you're pointing at the wrong guy, officers." Tony speaks with nonchalance as he raises his hands and casually steps in front of Peter. 

"Mr. Stark, Spider-Man operates outside the law. We have orders to bring him in along with the rest."

"That's classy. Can I know whose orders?" Tony questions while rolling his eyes and lowers his hands. He counts the guns being pointed at him as the officers begin to circle around them. "Uh, didn't he _just_ help you take down what could be classified as the worst bank robbers? _Ever_? I'm not—I don't understand."

"We understand, sir—"

"Quit pointing that thing, will you? Could really hurt somebody. Why don't you point it over other?" Tony stretches his arm towards the guy that's on the wall and before he could say or do anything else, Peter is jumping up and swinging towards the entrance of the bank to make his exit, Tony immediately following right after him, taking an actual bullet to the back of his arm.

They're shooting at Peter. Tony doesn't know what's worse: the criminals or the fact that on either side of the spectrum, he can't count on anyone to have Peter's back. 

The cheering outside in the street when Peter swings away tells Tony that maybe the people can be trusted, but even he knows that's a long shot. He doesn't say anything as he flies out of the bank, following Peter's tracks and trying to get him on the comms. 

"Kid, you okay?"

"Yup. That was a close one. It's actually the closest one ever."

"This happened before? The cops really go after you?"

"Well, yeah. At the beginning because—hey! Stay out of trouble!—Yeah, so at the beginning because—"

"Who were you talking to?"

Peter stays quiet for a moment and then Tony sees him waving at the kids that wave up and get even more excited when Tony is right behind him.

"Never mind. You were saying?"

"Yeah at the beginning because, well, obviously. I'm crawling up walls and webbing criminals but then I was stopping this guy from breaking and entering, and the alarm on the property went off. Cops showed up and when I caught the guy, they wanted to take me in too. Not a fun day."

Tony thinks. He doesn't like where his mind goes when he does. Then Peter's voice comes on the comms again as Tony catches up to him, flying a few feet behind him in case he's needed. 

“Ned?”

“Peter! You alright? Holy shit, that was the coolest thing that's ever happened. In the history of ever. You just saved everyone and with Iron Man. _Iron Man_, dude. I could pass out."

Tony smirks with an eyeroll at Ned's excitement because it does not matter how many times Ned is over at the tower, how many times Tony lets them do their homework in the lab with Tony pretending to be there in case he's needed, or the trips they take on summer break. The hero fever never goes down for Ned.

Peter chuckles and Tony discovers he's doing with his phone to his ear and swinging around the city when he closes in on him. 

“Are you.._swinging_ with the phone to your ear?”

There's a pause and then he catches Peter holding his phone in his hand, watching how it literally _sticks_ to his forearm without any webbing.

"No." 

Tony speeds up as Peter swings towards a building and leaps to the side of it, crawling up the side of it quick and with such ease, Tony can only stare in complete shock. His son is an actual spider and it's both the eeriest and impressive thing he's ever seen. When the kid gets to the roof of the building, he stands on the ledge of it and waves Tony up. 

"You know.." Tony begins as he drops on the roof as Peter wears his mask just so that Tony can see his smile, and the faintest labored breath considering all he did under 120 seconds. "Are you sure you're not part monkey too?"

Peter's smile widens and Tony's helmet retracts as he asks FRIDAY to check the surroundings for any security cameras within reach, to handle them if she finds any. 

"Do not swing and text. Or swing and talk, you hear me?" he points his finger to him, "not safe."

Peter groans. "But what about Pokemon Go?"

Tony stares at him, wondering if his brain is firing the right information for his neurons to process. 

"Is that how your phone broke the first time?"

"Believe it or not, I didn't think they'd be up so high," is what Peter answers with instead. 

Tony continues to stare, his eye twitching and Peter bringing his mask down as he shrugs like what he just said was the most casual thing. Tony extends his hand out to him but Peter just stares at it and confused, gives Tony a low five. 

"The phone."

With another groan and no rebuttal, Peter drops the device in Tony's hand. 

"How do I get in contact with you if you take my phone away? Huh, huh Mr. Genius?"

"FRIDAY, deactivate Training Wheels protocol in its entirety."

Tony watches Peter take a step back with a confused, "hello? Hello?" and looking up. It shouldn't be as funny as it is, but Tony is still caught up on the Pokemon comment so he doesn't laugh. Just stares. 

"Whoa..Is this—I have my personal A.I?! Hoooooly s—"

"Gotta say," Tony loudly cuts off, "the language thing? Not a fan. I try to talk all pretty for your benefit and yet here you are."

"Sorry, sorry but what—I get my own—like, for real?" Peter's head begins to move in a way that tells Tony he is looking at all the introductions the A.I is showing him under his mask.

"You do. Don't make me regret it. She's synced to your cell line. Be home by 9:30."

"But it's already five o'clock!"

Tony shrugs as he hovers above the roof now. 

"Not trying to ruin your life, kid. You're lucky I don't drag you home with me right now. That's the time. We'll talk rules and curfews then." 

"Fineee. Thanks for, uh..What's your name, suit lady?"

Tony shakes his head because the kid is dangerously endearing. He needs to bring that down a notch.

"How about..Karen. Karen? Okay, great!" Peter walks over to the edge of the roof and salutes Tony one more time with a final "thank you!" and "see you later!" as he falls towards the street again.

"Stop doing that, you menace," Tony grumbles under his breath with his eyes closed as he hears Peter laughing in the distance. The death of him will be none other than Peter Stark. 

Tony touches the scar on his chest when he closes all the files he pulls up about Spider-Man, Oscorp and the people that would want to see the vigilante dead or behind bars. There hasn't been a complete correlation with the police and Oscorp, but Tony wouldn't put it past them. Grabbing his mug of coffee and sending a text message to Peter with a simple "how goes it", the kid sending back an "all good" almost immediately, he continues to read the things he finds about Mary's death. Dead ends or nothing at all is all he comes up with, but either way can't continue his research because Rhodey calls back from his mission, asking Tony if he can repair a few of the damages to the suit. With a sigh and sending all the information he found to his cell phone, he grabs his mug of coffee and begins to walk out of the shop. 

“Oh," he says at the double doors, turning to face the lab, "FRIDAY, when Peter is in the suit, I need you to shut down the cameras that can capture him entering the tower with it on. Uh, completely erase that part of it from the drives. Just the surrounding ones that can catch him." Tampering, illegal. He knows. Too bad. 

“Sure thing, boss.”

Tony informs Peter that he will be upstate and to get home by the time they agreed on, showered and in bed by ten. Tony has a superhero son and survived the discovery to tell the tale. 

He stays in the facility eating take-out with Rhodey, Steve, and Sam after he's done with the War Machine armor. They all sit around the table with empty plates and half-drunken water bottles, fountain drinks and seltzer water, laughing and genuinely having a good time in each other's company. Tony periodically checks his messages from Peter once the kid tells him he made it to the tower, FRIDAY confirming his location since he is almost certain the watch Peter was using is not working to its full Tony Stark capacity. Tomorrow, Tony will sit down with Peter and find out how all of this happened and the precautions that will be in place but right now, Tony enjoys the serenity, the laughter and the sense of relief he is currently in. 

“You know who he is, Stark? You definitely do if you're giving him tech.”

At the call out from Sam, Tony looks up from his phone, the pictures Peter sent walking Tony through his routine to bed making him laugh to himself. He’s so dramatic. Tony is entirely at fault. It's great.

“Come again?” Tony asks with his eyes still on the screen of his phone. The kid took a picture of himself entering the _shower_ and stepping out. His big smile, showing all his teeth in all of the frames puts a real smile on Tony's face. He has never loved someone so fully like he loves this kid.

“Saw the news on that robbery in Queens. The Fighting Spider—”

“Spider-Man,” Tony corrects as he responds back to Peter’s messages, glued to his phone and not entertaining Sam’s comment. 

“Spider-Man has way cooler tech from the last time he made an appearance. Courtesy of..”

Tony finally looks up at them, futilely attempting to resemble anything close to clueless as the three men stare at him, expectant and amused. He dismissively shakes his head and finishes his message to Peter. 

“He needed some help and I gave him a hand. Besides," he continues with a lie, "Peter is a huge fan and he saved his friends from the robbery.” Tony shrugs, setting his phone down on the table and grabbing his chopsticks and stuffing his face with noodles. 

“How is Peter? Are his friends alright?”

Tony nods at Steve’s questions, trying to get his noodles to cooperate from the chopstick to his mouth. 

“He’ll be here Saturday, right?” Rhodey asks, sitting back on his chair with his water bottle in hand and then to his lips as he looks to Tony for an answer. 

“Yup.”

“You’re doing a good job with him, Tony. Howard would’ve loved him.”

With a glance at Steve, Tony finishes his mouthful of food and sets his cartoon down. Steve seems to understand the insinuation or miss it completely because he continues speaking anyway. 

“He would’ve.”

Tony gives a slight scoff and shakes his head as he settles against his seat and leans his head back, looking to the ceiling with his hands resting on his stomach now. He welcomes a deep breath as Steve goes on.

"You don't think so?" 

“You knew one side of Howard, Steve. What makes you think he'd _honestly_ love Peter?” When Tony asks, he looks to Steve then, an incredulous tone in his voice he is sure he wears as well.

“Peter is a great kid, Tony,” is what Steve comes back with, sincere and leaning on the table. That Steve Rogers make-you-feel-better voice coming on. “Why wouldn't he?"

“The fact that I got a woman pregnant out of wedlock, that he’s _ my _ kid; ‘you’re gonna ruin that poor boy. The state would’ve done a better job. Why didn’t you let them handle it’. I can practically _hear_ him now.”

“Tony—”

“Look, Steve. My dad was cold. He was calculating. He never told me he loved me, never even told me he liked me. You’re talking about a guy whose happiest day was when he sent me off to boarding school. Despite what Nick Fury tries to sell you.” A long breath and then, "if he couldn't even...what makes you think he'd be able to express an iota of affection towards my son?"

Steve doesn’t say anything else and Tony catches Sam looking at him in a way that Tony strongly dislikes. He doesn’t need the pity or the pathetic looks. He did okay with Peter. Pepper and Rhodey, and even Happy have a lot of credit in raising that kid in the way Steve says he turned out. Tony read books until his eyes fell out of their socket, he tried to be better for Peter in all ways he knew he was lacking and he didn't do it to impress Howard. He did it for Peter. 

Tony taught Peter things Tony himself never learned as a child, things like conversation, affection, communication, love in other ways other than that of throwing his money to sustain the kid. He taught Peter things Tony had to learn on his own. From tutors, from nannies, from Jarvis. Then, from Rhodey, from Pepper. And it was the two of them that helped Tony not fall off the many wagons he had to climb in order for Peter to stand a chance. Pepper always told him he wasn't Howard, that his fear of raising Peter shouldn't derive from thinking he's going to turn out like his father. But did it ever really matter how Howard treated Tony? At the end of the day, Tony loved him just the same anyway, even if resentment was part of it.

He just wanted to earn Peter's love in a way that didn't leave a sense of despair at the thought of Tony and his relationship with him when he was gone.

He stands from his chair and exhales a breath, his back to the table as he stares through the glass, watching Vision talking to Wanda in the living room. Her hands begin to glow red in that mystical way of hers and Vision gives her his undivided attention while she speaks. 

“Peter would’ve grown up with the complex of being an accident that ‘ruined’ my future. Are you serious? He would’ve never seen Peter as a good thing happening to me.” Tony shakes his head, hands in his pockets as he closes his eyes to steady his breathing and calm down the desire he has to scream. He wished Howard had shown..something while he was _here_. Not from the beyond.

“Mom, though. _Mom_ would’ve loved him,” he whispers to himself, taking his eyes off Wanda and Vision and focusing on nothing in particular when he does. “He plays the piano,” Tony discloses as he turns his head to face them again with a small grin on his lips. “Yeah, just like she did. Pepper..” Tony smiles at the memory before he recites it, “Pepper always requests songs around Christmas and they sing and drive me.._insane_ until I am forced to join and Rhodey has to tell _me_ to stop because apparently I’m the biggest show tunes freak there is.”

Rhodey smiles in a way that tells Tony he knows too. Howard would've never loved Peter. He couldn't even demonstrate that gesture to Tony.

“That sounds like a great Christmas, Tony.” When Sam speaks, Tony knows then that he’s not only being Sam, his teammate but Sam, the group session guy. “Peter is a great kid, whether your dad would’ve seen that or not, that doesn’t take away the fact that _ you _ raised him that way.”

Tony shakes his head and looks away at Sam’s words, his throat closing and feeling a sort of self-hatred he hasn't felt in a long time because Stark men don't cry. Stark men are made of iron. 

As if rehearsed, whenever that thought enters his mind, Pepper and Peter overpower it because, right. Not Tony. Pepper doesn't love Tony because he's made of iron. Tony didn't want to be a Stark man as Peter's father. The cycle of shame had to be broken with that kid because if Tony ever caused him the type of pain Howard caused _him_ as a child, he would've never forgiven himself. So Stark men aren't made of iron if Peter is any testament to it. Stark men are made of witty and snarky remarks, of wanting to save the world in a onesie because they have the power to do so. Stark men are made of love, compassion and a level of optimism and innocence that no money could ever buy. Peter is nothing like the ideal Stark men Howard left up to chance to raise. 

Stark men are to be modeled after Peter. 

“Pepper and Rhodey have a lot to take credit for—”

“Nah, nah. Don’t start with that. I was there when the kid needed me or to eat chips and watch movies. Having Pepper around was always a positive thing for Peter but.." Rhodey faces Tony this time, his eyes sincere as he continues speaking, “Peter would’ve turned out just as great, Tony. A lot more swearing but great nonetheless.”

Steve hasn’t spoken since his last Howard Stark defense and Tony is relieved that he got the concept, so he quietly takes his seat again and drops his head back when he does, eyes to the ceiling one more time. If Tony is being honest, he had nothing to do with Peter’s good morale, compassionate and selfless way to go about life, always full of redemption to give. He’s pretty sure that was all Mary’s side of the genes. He grins to the ceiling, Rhodey touching his forearm reassuringly in the same silence he is in. Peter, definitely not a perfect child but a hell of a good one.

“Mom would’ve loved Peter,” he quietly says as he continues to stare up, imagining the clouds that would’ve been there had he asked FRIDAY to display them. 

—

Tony wakes up from watching his mother with baby Peter on her lap while Pepper helps her adjust him so that Tony could take the picture of the three of them for the Christmas card. He opens his eyes to FRIDAY telling him Ross is on the line. He groans and drops his face on his pillow again because he was finally able to sleep and have such a wonderful dream while at it. Since when does _that_ happen? 

“What time is it?”

“It is currently 5:30 in the morning, boss.”

He would’ve liked to continue that dream, though the hollow feeling it leaves him with makes him reconsider it.

“What does he want?” he mumbles against the pillow and drifting back to sleep again. 

“He wants to know if you’re the official sponsor for the New York vigilantes.”

Tony lifts his head off his pillow just so he can roll his eyes and tells FRIDAY that he isn’t, but he will gladly speak to him in a few days about it when he has more knowledge on the guys that are running around New York helping out the people. 

“End call, FRI," he mumbles in hopes of falling back to sleep, but it's no use. Tossing and turning for ten minutes irritates him enough to force him out of bed. 

In long pajama bottoms, the Midtown High crewneck he picked when he bought the entire table worth of merchandise for the parents to just take whatever they wanted, and socks on his feet, he heads to the kitchen, brews his coffee as FRIDAY answers his question about Peter’s status. When she tells him Peter is sound asleep while Tony waits for his coffee, he decides to wait for the coffee with a little Peter-fused adventure. So he heads to the kid's room and opens the door quietly, catching the mess of limbs and sheets all over the kid's bed. He sees the suit is laid against the chair by his desk and his onesie-looking one on the seat of it. 

“FRIDAY, play the theme song at a decent volume,” Tony instructs as he manually turns on the light in the room. “In the entire penthouse.”

“You got it, boss.”

When Black Sabbath’s_ Iron Man_ starts to play, Tony watches Peter wake up in a fright. He turns on his back, swift and disoriented with his eyes wide as he searches for the source of the noise. Tony climbs on the bed, stomping on the mattress as he shouts the lyrics to the song with each stomp while Peter is looking up at him as if he had seven heads without a single word coming out of his mouth. The kid calls his name but Tony actively ignores him until Peter groans and hides his head under his pillow. But that doesn't last long because moments after, as Tony keeps singing and stomping on the bed, Peter stands up on the bed with him and tries to get Tony's attention. 

“FRIDAY, turn it up, will you?”

FRIDAY does as told, Tony playing his air guitar and dropping on his knees when the performance deems it necessary. 

“FRIDAY, STOP THE MUSIC!” Peter is shouting commands with his hands over his ears.

“Sorry, Peter. Can’t do. Boss’ orders.”

Peter stares at Tony for a moment as the guitar solo comes to an end and Tony stands back up again. The kid gets off the bed and starts _ walking up the walls until he’s hanging from the ceiling. _ Tony looks up at him while Peter is _upside down. From the ceiling._

“You’re the worst," he says as he narrows his eyes at Peter's grinning face. It's creepy and Tony will never get used to it. "Get down before someone thinks you need an exorcism. FRIDAY, cut the song.”

Peter drops on the bed once Tony is off it and grabs his blankets, draping them over himself head to toe with a big yawn while Tony stands by the mattress, shaking his head. 

“Do you know what time it is, dad?”

“Yes," he answers with his arms crossed against his chest while looking at Peter not move from under the blankets. 

“Too. _Early_.”

“We have a lot to do today. Chop, chop,” he commands as he's now about to walk out of the door. 

He hears Peter groaning behind him and Tony turns at the frame of the door at the sound of the complaint.

“FRIDAY will have that song on repeat if you don't move it, spiderboy.”

“But _ why _ can’t we wait until the sun comes up?” Peter mumbles, the whine in his voice unmistaken even from under the blanket. 

“Being a hero requires sacrifices. Sleep will be one of them. Up, we need to talk and there’s not a lot of time.”

"We have all day!"

Tony starts walking over to the bed when he sees Peter is straightening against it, moving towards the headboard and putting his head on the pillow. “Up, up!” Tony tries to pull the blankets off him but they don’t budge. “Very funny, with the superstrength. Funny. Let go.” But when Peter’s hands sneak out of the blanket, fingers spread and risen above his head, Tony stumbles for a second. “That’s..gross, Pete. You’re weird and gross.”

Tony hears Peter chuckle from under the blanket and stops trying to pull them off him. Instead, he sighs and heads to the door, speaking as he walks out. 

“Alright. FRIDAY sprinklers directly onto the bed while the theme song plays at a volume he can appreciate.”

“I’m up! I’m up.”

Breakfast starts off simple. They both help themselves to it, Tony just sticking to coffee, a piece of toast and a mandarin, while Peter eats half a box of cereal. Literally. Tony sits across from him as he peels his fruit, elbows on the counter of the peninsula as they sit across each other and eyes on what he's doing while he speaks. 

“We’re going to do this efficiently and we’re going to handle it like adults. You will answer all of my questions truthfully or you can kiss your superhero life goodbye.”

Peter stops chewing and from his periphery, Tony sees him looking up towards him with his War Machine fleece blanket tied around his neck like a cape. Tony doesn’t look at him. He continues to peel away.

“Deal?”

“O-okay.” 

Peter sets his spoon down on his napkin and sits up straight on the stool, forcing Tony to look up when he catches the mannerism and easiness leaving the room. 

“Eat, kid. I promise I just want to close the gaps.”

Tony watches him swallow in a nervous manner, waiting a moment before he grabs his spoon back into his hands, tensely diving into his cereal again. Tony returns to his peeling. 

“It wasn’t food poisoning when Pepper took care of you, correct?”

“No.” 

Tony is almost done with his mandarin.

“The bathroom incident when she got all wet was because..”

“I..I broke the faucet. I didn’t—I didn’t know I had..the strength..”

“Hm.” Finally, he gets the mandarin peeled and begins to break it piece by piece. He remains calm because Peter is fine, there is no danger, and he knows the truth now. He’s alright and Tony has a way to help protect him. They can be on the same page again. “So, when you would say you’d be at a club or school meeting..”

“I’d be in..Queens.”

“Right. So, how come I went to your decathlon meets? And you asked for that camera for Christmas?” Tony puts a piece of the fruit in his mouth, focusing on how sweet it actually turned out to be. He hasn't looked at Peter once, hoping that his nonchalance and casual behavior feels as sincere as he's making it seem.

“Decathlon and photography are actually part of my curriculum. Those..I actually am part of those.”

“Huh. I see,” Tony nods. And then his eyes meet Peter’s. Not with disappointment, not with anger. If anything, there's just a bit of hurt that the kid didn’t tell him about the bite as soon as it happened though he can understand a bit more as to why. 

Tony freaked out big time. He gives Peter that one.

“How come when I checked your location it said you were in the places you told me you'd be?”

Peter looks down at his lap and sets his spoon back in the bowl without an answer. 

“Squirt, just filling the gaps. You're not in trouble but you have to tell me how these things happened so that I can make sure the tech I give you to keep you safe is effective. If I need to make adjustments to your suit, I need to know what are the things I have to improve on so you can be safe and I won't be left feeling sorry."

Peter’s brows knit together with the crease of worry he hasn’t seen so steady in quite a while he lowers his eyes again. With a small sigh, he closes them and gently places his fists on the counter. 

“Ned and I tampered with the watch,” he slowly confesses. Tony was almost positive that was the case, he just didn't know Ned would also be part of it. Peter's eyes remain closed as he speaks. “When Ryan would drop me off wherever I said I was, I would leave the GPS on that location and sneak off..to patrol.”

Tony is about to speak but Peter cuts him off, talking urgently, seeming to get his point across. 

“But Ned knew where I was at all times. He’s my guy in the chair so he tracks my phone and is always ready to call for help if I need it. I was safe and—and I’m..sorry. I—please, don’t be mad at him. I made him do it. The GPS thing, not the other stuff. In-in fact, he told me I shouldn’t be going behind your back, that-that I should talk to you about it.”

Tony sighs, setting his half eaten mandarin down and moves the mug of coffee to the side. He clasps his hands together as he leans on the counter, attempting to remain even and collected when he speaks next. 

“Why didn’t you tell me, Peter? I'm sorry, kid but that isn't being safe.”

“Because!” Peter abruptly stands from his seat and inhales a sharp breath, pacing back and forth in short strides and turns to Tony when he begins his explanation. “I know my safety is important to you, but me telling you about Spider-Man? You would've never let me do it because I'm not as safe as I would be were I home where FRIDAY, or you, or uncle Rhodey or Pepper, or _Happy _are always watching me_. _I wanted to do this so bad, and I hated not being able to talk to you about but it had to be that way. I'm sorry I hid it, and I'm sorry I scared you but I'm..I'm not sorry that I did it. This is..It's part of me. In a way, I think it always was, I don't know. I just..Please, understand."

Peter pleads with his eyes when they lock onto Tony's.

"I know you do, dad," he softly continues when Tony doesn't respond. "I know you understand."

Tony’s concern is shown on his face even when he tries to conceal it as Peter starts to walk over to him until he is standing before him. He turns his body on the stool to face Peter, who explains that he’s good at what he does, that this is one of the best things he's ever done, that he’s never felt more like himself while doing it. He tells Tony he can help in the field, that Tony doesn’t have to be alone anymore. That he knows his fear of Peter getting hurt is something that will never go away but now it's different. “Maybe..you know..you don't have to be as concerned about me. I can—I can defend myself. You saw. I..” The kid sighs, staring at Tony with his shoulders slouched as he begins playing with his hands. 

“It’s our responsibility, dad. It’s too much power for us to not utilize it to help others.”

“I understand that. But Peter," Tony calls, placing his hand at the back of his son's neck and squeezing in what he hopes is a reassuring way, "you being happy, you being okay, _safe_ is all that matters to me. Even if you were the Hulk, I'd still be worried about you. That's something that will always be my priority, understand _that_." Peter mutely nods at Tony's words, his big brown doe eyes as transparent as they have ever been. "I can't just..jump on board with the idea of you throwing yourself at danger, kid. And you lied to me! I'm hurt, I'm not gonna lie. That stung."

“I didn't want to lie to you, I hope you know that. I'm sorry."

Tony nods with another gentle grasp at the hold he has on Peter's neck.

"Or to Pepper. Or to Ryan. He’s really cool. Don’t fire him.”

With a smirk, Tony tells Peter that no one is getting fired as he brings his hand down. Tony might've had fired himself if he could for not paying close attention and figuring this out sooner. 

“Yeah, so focus up, you would have dinner with Pepper, tell her you’d have after school business and then..what?"

Still playing with his hands, he answers hesitantly with, "I would go to the location, leave the GPS, see if Ned was in position and then have Ryan pick me up when I was done."

"From wherever you'd supposedly be the entire afternoon?"

Peter nods sheepishly as he walks back to his seat. 

“She doesn’t know, then. Neither does Ryan. How did Ned find out?”

“Remember when he slept over that weekend in winter break? Before Valentine's day? He saw the suit underneath my bed looking for a Lego piece when he dropped the _almost finished Diagon Alley, _the one we gave him for Christmas? It was a rough day.”

“Is that why I saw you pull it out from under the dresser?”

Peter nods as he sits and then continues to stuff his face with cereal, a lot more relaxed. Tony gives a single nod himself. 

“Who else knows? Anybody else?”

Peter shakes his head, chewing his food completely at ease. 

“Just Ned?”

Peter nods down at his plate as he takes another spoonful of his food. 

“Ned tracks your phone? And you disabled your watch?”

Peter nods again, chewing his life away.

“How come FRIDAY never told me about you coming into the house in your onesie?”

“Hm,” Peter hums as he swallows his mouthful of food and lightly waving his spoon side to side, “not a onesie. When you found me, that was the first time I was in the tower with it on. Someone stole my backpack that night and I obviously couldn’t hop in the car with the suit on, so I told Ryan you came for me and swung back here.”

“You’re a terror. A menace. You need to be stopped.”

Peter smiles after he takes another bite of his cereal, his mouth closed as Tony grabs his mug of coffee and brings it to his lips. 

“Admit it. You're impressed.”

“No!” Yes. “I have to stop pretending you're still six and your biggest problem is how to get the cookies from the cupboard. I have to increase security walls, make the tech I give you impenetrable, have FRIDAY alert me as soon as you and Ned decide to corrupt it.”

“I can see it in your eyes. You’re proud.”

“Whatever. So,” Tony redirects, “you’re the spider..ling? Crime fighting spider? You’re spiderboy.”

“Spider-_Man_,” Peter corrects around a mouthful of food, eyes to his bowl. 

“That was not going to stick if you kept wearing that onesie, kid.”

Peter rolls his eyes as Tony hides his smirk behind his mug when he takes another sip. 

Tony spends about an hour and change after breakfast explaining the tech he unlocks on the suit and Peter, bright and excited, gets it all on the first round. 

“Five hundred web combinations...Dad, you might’ve overdone—” Peter says as he wears the suit and stares at his hands as Tony continues to type away on his desktop, unlocking certain features and asking Peter to try them out.

“Sh, I’m still talking." Tony turns around on his chair and stands up to where Peter is, War Machine blanket by his station, "_t__his _ is the panic button as well the drone. Even if you weren’t wearing the suit or the GPS on it wasn’t operating, you can activate it by holding it down for five seconds. You can also do a voice activation with a phrase of your choosing. I’ll be able to find you wherever you are.”

Peter nods, and even though Tony can't see his facial expression under the mask, he can tell Peter understands the solemnness of this part of the demonstration. 

“It’s going to be alright, dad. I promise I will do my best to never need this. But thank you.”

“I am counting on that.”

Around a quarter past eleven, Peter puts the mask away in his room and keeps the rest of the suit on with the War Machine fleece back around him like a cape as he eats his 12 inches long BLT. Tony asks him about what he saw in the restricted area of Oscorp before the bite as he eats his Thai take out while standing across the peninsula from Peter. He listens carefully, making sure FRIDAY annotates anything and everything Peter says about that day. 

“You think they’re coming for me?” Peter’s genuine worry has Tony on sudden edge. 

“No. They would've already." He answers it confidently because it's true, but not entirely correct. There are certainly other ways to try and get to Peter than whatever they've been doing, if they have been doing anything at all.

Tony takes a bite off his food, and Peter takes a moment but continues eating in silence after that. "Besides," Tony picks up again, "if they did, you know I’d protect you with my life. You’re fine. I promise.” 

Peter seems to relax a little more at the sound of Tony’s words and then agrees to let Tony have his biology tested more thoroughly once they can get in contact with Cho. 

“Wait, He—Helen Cho? That's who's going to do it? Not you?”

“We're out of my field here, kid. Either her or Bruce, and the bastard hasn't sent a postcard yet so," Tony shrugs, taking another bite of his lunch and covering his mouth to speak around his food to finish with, "we can trust her.”

“She’s _brilliant_. Do you think if I ask she’ll tell me about her cradle? I’d love to talk to her about something Dr. Banner left behind. She’d be so helpful.”

“Sure, kid. We’ll see what happens, alright?” 

“Cool,” Peter smirks at his sandwich, Tony grinning at him when Peter looks up with a grin of his own.

Peter finishes his second chocolate bar as he tries on the webshooters on his wrists, patting DUM-E when the bot takes his wrappers and puts them in the garbage can underneath Peter's table.

“Alright. Ready. Let me see you walk on the walls.” Butterfingers is holding the camera as Tony sets the Starkpad on the table while moving over to the bot to watch Peter demonstrate his abilities as Tony calls them.

Peter being Peter, shoots a web to the ceiling and hangs from it upside down, giving Tony a mild heart attack. 

“Get down get down get down,” he cries out, averting his eyes as he puts his hand over his face. 

“What?” Peter chuckles out as he drops with a soft thud, the blanket still secured and tight around him.

“That’s.._creepy_, kid! Holy shit!”

Peter lets out a full laugh, dropping his head back in amusement. 

“I can do it like I did this morning, look.” And then, the kid is walking on the wall and standing from the ceiling like he was this morning. Just like he said he could do. Tony’s mouth is agape, somehow a lot more surprised and creeped out than he felt earlier today. Peter is chuckling and shooting another web to the table to grab a bag of chips. 

“Oh, no. No, you don’t. You’re eating that like a human child. No spider business. Besides, didn’t you _just_ eat like a ten feet long sandwich 30 seconds ago?” Tony tells Butterfingers to keep rolling as Peter drops to the floor again. 

"It was just a regular 12 inches, dad, and that was 45 minutes ago. You have me running around, burning all I eat. I must recharge! You’re not gonna let me starve, are you?”

“You’re a menace. The worst. You need to be stopped!” Tony moves over to him and pokes him gently on the forehead as he walks over to his table, jotting down on what he has so far of Peter's abilities with FRIDAY’s help. 

Peter takes off the suit when they decide to spend some time on the cars Tony has been neglecting. “Hold on,” he says suddenly, AC/DC playing at a volume Peter's senses wouldn't mind while they both work hand in hand on Peter’s favorite car. “If you weren’t in robotics club, what was that cut you came home with that night a while back?”

Peter’s eyes widen when he sits up, and then sinks back into the engine, FRIDAY lowering the music with Tony’s wave of a hand. 

“Pete..” He says it with a warning in his voice.

“I, uh, I got stabbed, but I disinfected and it closed literally that same night. In my sleep. All good.” The kid doesn’t come up from his side of the engine and Tony’s eye twitches for a whole of two seconds before he settles back into his previous position and rejoins him in complete silence. 

FRIDAY brings the volume back up. 

Ten minutes later, catching Peter mouthing the words to the song that plays overhead, Tony comes out from under the same car as Peter is chewing away on a chocolate bar and sitting by DUM-E, tightening his screws after Peter decided he wanted to give him his maintenance. 

“How did you manage to refill your cartridges? Was that what those beakers were doing in your shower?"

Peter takes the last bite of his chocolate bar and focuses on the other side of DUM-E’s wheels as he coolly answers with, “and school.”

“What do you _mean 'and school_?'”

“During AP chem.”

“What's your grade in that class?”

“A-.” Peter's concentration is mostly on DUM-E, his face hard and indifferent to whatever Tony is saying.

“Huh.” 

Brilliant. But Tony won’t tell him that so he goes back to his engine. Peter then asks if Led Zeppelin is the person playing because he had always liked this song. 

Tony comes from under the car again and balls up the grease rag he was using and throws it at Peter, hitting him on the back of the head.

Peter laughs and requests a song from the right artist, with album and year, sticking his tongue out at Tony as he finishes up with DUM-E. 

"I'm putting you up for adoption," Tony threatens as he goes back to working on his car. 

Peter's laughter is so full and so bright, the chuckles that escape from Tony feel the warmest they've been all week. 

Jenna makes dinner at Tony's request while they finish up in the lab. The instant Peter smells it they head upstairs and wash up to kill the time until the food is done. As they return, refreshed and clean, Tony is wearing his dark jeans and that punny shirt over his white long sleeve Peter got him for Valentine's day. As he hands Peter a plate, an incoming video call from Pepper is displaying on Peter's phone.

“Peppaaaaahhhhhhhhh!” Peter greets as he takes a bite off his buttered roll when he answers. He has the phone further back behind his plate so that the holoscreen isn't directly on his face as Pepper's head floats over the counter. 

Tony is standing across Peter, grabbing all the greens and colorful things because his age will catch up and he has to stay on top of it. He’s not a supersoldier or a spiderkid. He’s a regular man that can only hope to die a regular death and would like to have a regular life and routine in the meanwhile. He smirks as he takes a piece of the baked salmon onto his plate and sits across from Peter. 

“Hi, honey. You’re home today? That's new. Is everything alright?”

“Yes. Went with dad to MIT but cut the trip short so we’re bumming it today.”

“Uh, excuse me?”

”Right. _He’s_ bumming it today and I’m working around the clock.”

Tony stares at him and Peter does a double-take when he notices Tony doing so. 

“Well, is it not true, Mr. Iron Man, _sir_?”

Tony wants to laugh but he’s not going to lose to this soon-to-be-15-year-old sass mouth. So instead, he slowly mouths the word “adoption,” watching Peter suppress his amusement as he begins to disturbingly put things on his plate.

Tony watches him in horror and distaste. 

“Peter, I need you to apply your table etiquette.”

“Sorry,” he says with a slightly guilty expression and begins to somewhat behave accordingly while serving his food. 

“Wow, you taking a break is a good call. I like the sound of that.”

Peter nods with his mouth full and doesn’t wait until he’s done to try to speak again, but Tony stops him. 

“Kid, really?”

Peter hurries to chew and opens his mouth towards Tony to show him there’s nothing there; he then turns his attention back to Pepper.

“When are you back? I miss you.”

“I miss you too. In three days," she replies. 

Simultaneously, they both let out a very soft "yaaaay" and Tony has to turn his head so that they don't catch him smiling like a mad man and trying to contain his laughter. 

"Did you get the picture I sent you?"

"Mh-mm," Peter nods, stuffing his face as Tony turns back around once he's got himself under control.

"Singapore is beautiful, you would love it, Pete."

“Can I go with you next time?”

“If Tony okays it, by all means, Mr. Stark.”

The nickname is for Peter but it makes Tony’s chest tighten as he focuses on his kale, trying to blend it in with his salmon. 

“Dad?”

Tony stabs his food and brings it to his mouth. He then looks at Peter and nods his way in silent approval. 

“Dad okays it. What if I meet you there right now?”

Pepper’s laugh is just as soothing as it has always been but Tony hears how tired she sounds and he does his best to not look her way, doesn’t want to disrespect the space she asked for. He tunes them out after that, though the conversation doesn’t last long. When she hangs up, Peter looks at Tony, asking him if he's alright. 

“Me? Yeah. Why?”

“Dad.”

Tony looks at him, chewing the last bite of his supper and sipping on his one-glass-at-dinner- portion of wine. 

“Fine."

“Yeah?”

Tony puts his hand on Peter’s shoulder, the kid giving him a lopsided grin. 

“You know it.”

They watch Peter’s favorite Harry Potter film after dinner, after Tony discovers Peter's backpack got stolen because he used to web it and leave it until one day it caught up to him.

“You know what? This guy is so dramatic. Why doesn’t he just tell Harry the truth instead of doing all of this? They’re gonna kill him and the rat's gonna get away. Again.”

Peter slowly sits up from where he lays as he’s resting with his head on Tony’s lap, the War Machine blanket exchanged for his Iron Man one after he showered. He looks at Tony with disbelief in his eyes and his mouth wide open. 

“What? It’s true. I never noticed before.”

"You've only seen this twice, this night being one of those times."

"So?"

Peter keeps looking at him, somehow his look intensifying. 

“Dad..”

“It’s _ true. _I mean, I'm all for an entrance but if you don't speak up, they'll abra kadabra you out of there. He doesn't even have a wand!"

“You are _literally_ Sirius Black.”

“_What?_” Now it is Tony’s turn to be indignant. “You take that back.”

Peter sits up entirely and moves to take the space next to Tony, looking at him with that glint in his eyes that tells Tony the kid is completely at ease, he’s happy. He's safe. He’s alright. 

“That’s it. You’re reading the books,” Peter decides as he stands from the couch and heads towards the bedrooms, leaving his blanket on the couch.

“But we've seen all the movies!” Tony calls after him, pausing the film with that really ugly guy with nine fingers. He really belongs on a smaller screen. “Even if I've only seen them twice! Which it's entirely your fault since you decided to become a superhero behind my back for six months! We could've spent all that time watching!”

Peter returns with all his Harry Potter books in hand and completely ignores all Tony shouted after him. 

“When you’re done reading, you tell me you’re not this man.”

Tony raises an eyebrow at him as Peter takes a seat back on the couch.

“He’s my favorite, and it's mostly because of that,” the kid continues on. 

“Nice try, spiderbaby.” 

“Too far?”

“Just a bit,” Tony says.

Peter drops his head back in laughter as he tries to convince Tony with a few details for his reason in comparison. 

“So, because he's rich and a 'very bright?”

“Don't forget 'darkly handsome' and his 'casual elegance!'” 

Grinning, Tony throws the pillow at him, who catches it and sticks his tongue out in return. 

“Will you read, though?”

“I will.”

“_Yes_. Oh man, you're gonna love the movies even more. Or hate them. I don't know. But either way, you'll see what I mean.”

Tony rolls his eyes with that fondness that only his kid can produce as Peter lays back down with his head on Tony’s lap and asking FRIDAY to continue to play the film. 

When the movie is over, Peter moves to lay on his back, wearing a look Tony can't decode. 

“What is it, kid?”

Peter takes a deep breath, staring at the ceiling as if to try to find the right words to speak.

“Do you think Oscorp killed my mom?”

But Peter finds them. 

Tony stiffens at the question because he hasn’t gotten very far on the research he will continue later. With Peter being Spider-Man and the team making mistakes left and right, Ross on his tail and now trying to keep the kid safe, he hadn’t given it much thought as to follow up with that more than he already has. 

“I don’t know, Pete. How long have you been waiting to ask that?” Tony quietly asks as he runs his hands through Peter’s hair, the kid blinking slower each time he does, burdened with sleep. 

“Since you found me on the ceiling.”

Tony gives Peter a comforting grin at his response and Peter sighs, his eyes closing while Tony plays in his hair. He and Pepper had promised to stop doing that because they were going to get him used to the gesture, afraid he wouldn't fall asleep any other way. They never stopped playing in the kid’s hair and it’s lethal for when it’s time for sleep. Almost like the white clouds on the ceiling.

“Don’t worry about that, alright? I’ll take care of it.”

“Don’t leave me out of the loop, dad. Tell me whatever you find.”

Tony doesn’t answer. Peter’s eyes close for a whole of ten minutes immediately after, leaving Tony to his thoughts. 

“You know you don’t have to tuck me in anymore, right?”

“Technically, I don’t tuck you. I go nowhere near your bed. I just make sure you're in it.”

Peter rolls his eyes as he wears a smirk on his lips, sinking into his bed.

“You think uncle Rhodey will get mad when he finds out I’m Spider-Man?” He asks Tony this with his eyes big and brown and worried. 

“Hmm..Not.._mad. _ He’ll be concerned. When are you telling him?” 

“When the time is right.”

“Your call, kid. Sleep. Love you.” Tony gives Peter a kiss on the forehead as Peter responds with an “I love you. Today was awesome, dad. Thanks" and falls asleep almost instantaneously after.

When Tony enters his bedroom, sitting on his bed with his face buried in his palms, he realizes Peter and him never spoke about the rules and conditions regarding Spider-Man. But they will address it. As soon as he finds out what Ross wants first. He just has to keep Peter on a low profile until then. 

—

Tony gets woken up by Steve from watching Maria and Peter playing the piano and robbing Tony’s heart in one swift motion. He doesn't know how much longer these dreams will be roaming around his subconscious but he doesn't know if he wants them to stay or to be gone altogether. He'll have to decide later because Steve tells him Ross is on his way to the compound and is asking that Tony be present when he arrives. 

This should be good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peter Stark is one of my favorite things we've created as a fandom. There is so much love because Tony has SO much love to give. Canon, fanon, headcanons, you name it. 
> 
> I don’t know anything about Star Wars. Have only seen one and can’t even remember which one it was because I was NOT paying any attention. I just remember Han saying “I know” to princess Leia’s “I love you” and Chewbacca just losing it in the background. I almost wanted to watch it for real when I read From the Cradle to the Grave by the legendary @tempestaurora—please read that. You’ll see what I mean.  
Quickly: it’s a Tony & Nat are siblings fic and your life will never be the same after. Drop this if you must, and go read that because the warmth and emotions you’ll undergo—oof. 
> 
> I say all of that to say, Peter is a Harry Potter kid in this story. Sorry y’all. I know HP. And well. Yeah. 
> 
> Summary from Sam Phillips' Reflecting Light. It reminds me so much of Tony, and I feel a one shot brewing based on that song alone. 
> 
> But yes!
> 
> I hope you liked it! Talk to me in the comments, and oof. Thank you so much for coming back and reading. 
> 
> Go be happy.


	10. Sharp Left into Disillusion Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trusting so blindly seems to always cost Tony his life.

“Pete, come on!” 

Tony fixes his watch while he shouts for Peter to hurry up, then adjusts his tie and buttons his vest. Peter comes into the kitchen stifling a yawn behind a fist and wearing his thick frames shortly after his name is called. 

“I thought senses were dialed up to eleven. How come you’re wearing glasses?”

"Frames, no prescription.” Peter shrugs with his hands inside the pocket of his olive green jacket, the one Pepper got him and he never takes off. "I like the look."

Tony grins down as he looks to make sure his tie is properly adjusted because that is a very Tony Stark trait. Sometimes, he wishes that was the only thing Peter modeled after him. 

“You look good, kid. I like the chucks.” Tony looks at him as he slides his arms into his jacket and grabs his car keys from atop the peninsula counter. 

“Thank youuuu. So, uh. Why can’t I stay home again?”

Tony begins walking towards the elevator with Peter following behind him, entering and turning to face the penthouse, watching FRIDAY shut the lights as the double doors close.

“Ross wants to talk to the team. Depending on what he says, we have to adjust some things about your spiderboy ways in the public.”

“_Man," _he corrects, "wait, I don’t get it. What does that have to do with me? With Spider-Man?” As he stands next to Tony, Peter looks to him while he continues to stare straight ahead at the closed doors before him. With a deep breath and not answering the kid's question, he waits until he gets to the garage but still says nothing as he exits the elevator with Peter close behind. 

“Dad?”

Tony gets in the car and Peter gets in the passenger seat immediately after, asking questions as he buckles into place. “Am I in trouble? Are you gonna turn me in?” 

Tony glares at Peter, slightly indignant as he gives him a hard "no." He then speeds off out of the garage, clarifying that this meeting is specifically for the Avengers and that he has an idea of what Ross is going to present but he doesn't know how much effect it will have, if it will even stick. Peter keeps his eyes on Tony without another word and then faces the windshield. The kid then takes out his cell phone and begins typing in it in silence, the action unsettling him at Peter's sudden silence. 

“You alright, Pete?”

From the corner of his eyes, he sees Peter nodding but doesn’t remove his eyes from whatever he’s doing on his phone. 

“What cha doing?”

“I have questions and I can tell you’re tense about this, so I’m saving them for later.”

Even in the smallest of things, Peter never fails to impress him like he does now with that answer. So with a sigh, and not negating Peter’s observations, Tony asks FRIDAY to play the first Harry Potter audiobook. 

Tony attempts to concentrate on it until they arrive at the compound. Peter doesn't speak throughout the entire ride either, a small grin on his face as he listens to the book. 

Peter's face lights up when he sees Rhodey in the conference room from the glass door talking to Natasha. As soon as they walk through the door, Rhodey turns to face them and smiles at Peter, Natasha crossing her arms against her chest with a smirk and a head nod to Tony that he returns. The small smile that Tony wears when Rhodey hugs Peter while promising to meet him for a bite to eat after the meeting, is on everyone that watches the exchange. The two of them don't pull away from each other as they continue their conversation, Natasha coming over and grabbing Tony's attention.

"By the time he's 21, he'll be taller than you. Are you ready for that?"

Tony glares at her because no, no he isn't. He won't tell her that though.

"I didn't think so," she concludes with mirth behind her eyes. 

Peter breaks from his hold on Rhodey and shakes Steve’s hand, Steve complimenting his grip while Sam ruffles his hair and they begin their usual banter. Tony moves over to greet Vision when he walks through the door as Peter walks over to say hello to Natasha. As Tony steps aside to let Wanda in, who doesn't share a glance with anyone, Ross walks in right behind her. For a moment, everyone quiets at his arrival. He enters with his assistant after him and looks around the room, not speaking until his eyes settle on Peter. Rhodey casually moves in as soon as that happens and plants himself behind the kid.

"Sir," Rhodey greets as he stretches his hand towards him.

"Colonel," but Tony notices he doesn't move his eyes from Peter when he takes Rhodey's hand.

Before Tony walks over to them, Ross begins speaking again and Tony doesn't miss the way Peter is at complete ease where he is, tall and steady in his stance. 

“You must be..Mr. Stark,” he finally deems to say towards the kid, looking at Tony and then at Peter while offering his hand for him to shake. Peter takes it, not a trace of nervousness while he does it. Tony remains on the side, Rhodey not moving from his spot behind Peter either. 

“Good to meet you, sir." Peter takes his hand back, solid and impressing Tony. Always impressing Tony. When the kid doesn't suggest to be called by his first name, Tony decides to watch from where he stands instead. 

“Likewise. Officially, that is.”

Peter remains strong in presence and Tony enjoys it a lot more than he thought he would. Maybe it's because it's Ross, and he knows some of the history between Bruce and the man but Tony is proud of Peter being able to hold his own, reasons be damned.

“You take after your father, I see. You carry yourself well, boy.”

Peter gives Tony a side smile when he glances over to him. 

“I take that first part as a compliment.”

Ross stares at Peter for a moment and Peter doesn’t falter under the survey Ross gives him. Tony walks over to them then because Spider-Man is set to make the proper impression, so Tony sets his arm around Peter’s shoulder when he stands by him, silently assuring him everyone is on the same side.

Well, Ross hasn't detonated yet so he'll count him as an ally for now, even though that is a strong word to use for him too. 

“Unfortunately, being like me can’t get you a pass to stay. Sorry.”

That’s when Wanda offers her room for Peter to wait in so he doesn’t have to wait downstairs, but Peter quietly asks Tony if he can spend his time in the lab while he waits. 

“Sure thing, kid. You know the rules.”

Peter gives a small wave to the team in the room and disappears towards the direction of the lab. 

“So,” Tony says as he claps his hands, looking around the room, “shall we?”

Tony wonders if the kid can hear what’s being discussed from where he is, if he can hear Tony’s heart dropping and his whole mind going haywire when Ross sounds like a mixture of Pepper and Charles Spencer's mom as he speaks about the places the Avengers have gone where the casualties might be just as great as the battle they fought. He wonders if Peter can hear Ross asking Steve if he knows about Thor’s and Bruce’s current locations, if the way that Tony thinks about all the other parents and family members that paid the price during the Avengers defense comes across in his silence. How it pushes him down until the thin ice begins to crack beneath him again. 

Ross tells them about the Sokovia Accords, about the 117 countries that no longer feel safe with them as a private organization. With the questions that follow after he sets the booklet down, Tony already knows it won't be easy to get everyone on the same page. 

Because they need oversight whether the team wants to admit it or not; at this moment in time, they need to be on their best behavior and part of that means signing the document. If they don't, they'll be forced to retire. And that's simply not an option in Tony's frank opinion. There's too much to do, there are too many windows of opportunities for destruction to enter if they're disbanded. Tony knows they can work through it if they agree to sign; he will make sure things are done right, for the good of the team, for the good of the people. So long as they stay together, they can appease, mend, annul anything. Together. That's why he’s here. Not because Ross wants him there, but because he will be damned if this is left unsupervised.

Sam and Rhodey go back and forth whether they should sign or not, and Tony is sporting a massive headache while the tug-of-war between them is being unleashed. 

“Hello, Peter.” Tony turns around at the sound of Vision's greeting to see Peter coming up behind him and slowly stopping his sprint as he enters the common room. He takes off his left headphone as he looks around, silence settling in just as he does.

“I’m..sorry. I didn’t think—I came to grab something to eat. I ran out of chips.”

By the questioning look he gives Tony, the confused crease that builds around the kid's forehead with his head in a slight tilt, Tony can assume the kid was really just in the lab and heard nothing. So he tells him to sit and Peter does as told, quietly and next to Wanda. 

Because as Spider-Man, a hero to the people, there are some things he cannot bypass. This discussion is one of them. 

“Tony,” Natasha calls with a slight warning in her tone, and he looks at her as he lays back against his seat, “you're being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal."

“That’s because he’s already made up his mind,” Steve calls with the booklet of _117 countries_ that want to gain a bit of control over the catastrophes that will continue to come, whether the Avengers are there or not. They just want a bit of authority over their losses, over their fear, over the unknown. And oh God..Tony _gets_ it. 

“Boy, you know me so well,” he sarcastically deadpans to Steve's assumption as he stands from his spot and catches Peter’s eye when he does. He looks genuinely confused and Tony, with a need to get this done and over with, walks over to the kitchen and grabs a mug for coffee.

Opening the medicine cabinet, he grabs the aspirin and begins speaking again. "I am a current host for an electromagnetic headache. That's it, Cap. Just _pain_." He looks to the sink and feels like he's home with Peter, whose room can be complete chaos at times, who leaves his glasses of water _and_ water bottles all over, everywhere. "Who’s putting coffee grounds in the garbage disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?”

He’s frustrated, he knows and it’s coming across. But they have to understand. It’s not about what’s being done to _them_ right now, it’s about what they can do later when it will really matter. If they fight each other on this and don't stay _together_, they lose. If they're separated, they lose. 

Looking right at Peter, he sets his phone down and displays the picture of Charles while taking his aspirin. The kid drops his eyes at the sight, Tony seeing the way his hands begin to play with each other while Tony tells them all about the smiling boy in the frame. Charlie Spencer is just the beginning. The people, who they became a team for in the first place, want to have a say. Tony thinks it's reasonable enough because he knows, when push comes to shove, the Avengers won't need the accords to decide whether they should step in and fight the next world threat. They're the only ones fit to do it.

He hopes this works, that the team can understand. He hopes Charles Spencer's fate puts things into perspective.

It doesn’t. 

—

“Peter, you have to put a hold on Spider-Man until we clear this up. We sign tomorrow. I want you to go to school and come straight home after. You can have Ned over after you get your work done. Do you understand?”

Tony is giving Peter his undivided attention as they enter the penthouse. 

“Do you understand, kid? This is very important.”

Peter nods his head, biting the inside of his lips while his hands go in the front pockets of his jeans. The worry lines make an appearance on his forehead again, and Tony loses himself on how grown he looks for a moment. His hair is much longer, some curls falling astray on his forehead as they run wild, and the frames with his science pun t-shirt speaks of who the kid is with the traces of Tony in his style.

“Everything is going to be okay. The rest of the team will sign. It’s the best thing to do right now.”

Tony stands straight and forces a grin upon his lip. He’s not going to be responsible for taking Peter’s hopeful and optimistic view of things. 

“You know..you don't always have to agree with me.”

The kid stands in his spot, raising his shoulders with a slight shake of his head. 

“We’ve done therapy together. I know how important it is for you that the team stays on one accord. No pun intended." Peter gives Tony a brief grin himself and takes a small breath as he goes on. "I’m not agreeing with you to just be on your side. I just happen to share your reasons for the actions you've decided to take. I get it. You all work best _ together_. You’ve only won _ together_.”

The words affect Tony a lot more than he thought they would when Peter shares them. And that’s just it. Natasha understands and if she agrees with Tony, something's got to give on Steve's side of the spectrum. They need Steve, without him things will fall apart. The team won't stand a chance and then.. 

And even though the kid really doesn't have to agree with Tony on anything other than stop replacing junk food with proper meals, Tony is so glad Peter sees that too. 

“I can’t believe how much you've grown, squirt.”

Peter sighs with a small smile on his lips and walks up to Tony, silently embracing him, and does so until Tony's heart slows. 

—

Tony sits in the workshop, digging up and trying to find out about Mary and her research, anything that he can put together to help fill the gaps and keep Peter safe. He’s distracted, he’ll admit, unable to focus on one single thought. For a moment, he wonders how Steve is doing, reading his unread messages and looking over his unanswered phone calls to him. Natasha suggested it was better that she'd go and be with him. He didn't necessarily like the decision but agreed. Just as today is Peggy Carter's memorial service, today the nations meet in Vienna regarding the Accords. There's so much that runs through his head as he waits for FRIDAY for information to load on his desktop, screens opened, research loading. 

Natasha calls when she's getting out of the jet and tells Tony about Steve and how he's doing, to try to call him in a few days.

"How'd you leave him?"

"He'll be alright."

Steve didn't change his mind. 

"It'll be alright, Tony."

"I'm gonna hold you to that."

Dead ends. Tampered evidence. Mary's research was never even considered to be completed. Nothing. Tony drags a tired hand down his face, loosening his tie and asking FRIDAY to try a different approach on her search, implementing keywords, breaking a couple of security codes, trying to hack into systems, and doing his best to get all he needs without hacking into Oscorp. He sits back with his headspace in a completely different place as he waits for FRIDAY to load something useful. 

_"You're not your father. You don't have to become who you think he might want you to be."_

_Tony doesn't look at Pepper when she enters the lab and stands at a distance, her hands perfectly laced together before her while Tony continues sulking as he quietly sits on his chair, lightly moving back and forth and absentmindedly running his finger around the rim of the glass in front of him. He can't drink with a newborn that needs him coherent at all hours of the day. Mostly coherent, anyway._

_"Tony. Peter needs you."_

_"I made a mistake bringing him here. I can't.._do_ this."_

_"_Yes_, you _can_. No one is going to love that baby more than you." _

_He takes one sip. Maybe it'll numb things down in his chest, the fear of ruining that kid's life, the desperate need to know if his father ever worried about Tony the way he's drowning in worry for Peter. Yes, it's a small cough and yes, the doctor says he's fine, but it sounds..awful when that tiny innocent thing coughs with all his tiny might with his tiny cries full of discomfort. _

_"Except, maybe Rhodey," Pepper continues, interrupting his train of thought, "I have never seen him so smitten. But then again, I can see why. Peter is as sweet as they come." Pepper offers Tony a smile from where she stands, genuine and strong. "You're not trying to ruin his life, you know? Parenting is not done one way. Trial and error is a big part of this journey."_

_"The kid has been here for a _week_, Pepper and he's already got a cold, he's always crying and—this—"_

_"Mr. Stark." Her tone is patient and soft-spoken and Tony finds comfort in it. "Peter has to cry in order to communicate." The smile Pepper tries to suppress causes for Tony to glare at her, peeved with the sudden need to stick his tongue out at her so bad. But he's the adult now. "You just don't want him to cry period. You do know you didn't cause this cold, right?" _

_When she walks over to the desk, she's shaking her head with a grin and casually starts cleaning up what's in front of him. She takes the glass in her hand and looks at Tony, asking for permission to remove it with nothing but a pair of blue eyes. He stands and heads over the stack of parenting books where DUM-E is and Pepper cleans up the table as Tony turns around once he grabs the book he wants to consult. _

_"Have you heard him cry, Pepper? How can I want him to cry ever? It pains me—it physically pains me!" _

_"I think it's best. For us to figure things out."_

_Pretending to have everything under control in front of Pepper works 45% of the time. He can't do that now. She holds the cards that determine the next play he should make. _

_"You got everything?" To_ _ny asks as he stands by the kitchen island, gripping onto the counter with his head down while Pepper stands at a distance that feels miles and miles apart. Miles. _

_"Yes, thank you."_

_He responds with one slow, single nod without gifting her a glance._

_"Tony."_

"Boss, incoming call from Peter."

Tony snaps back into the room with FRIDAY’s announcement. He sits up on the chair, looking at the screens and seeing he's hit the same dead ends he’s been coming across since he started. A part of him keeps insisting he should leave it alone and he thinks that maybe that’s why he doesn’t try harder to uncover whatever it is that Oscorp and Mary's research have buried.

Before he can tell FRIDAY to answer Peter’s call, she informs him of the bombing in Vienna and Tony is already getting up and walking out of the shop, picking up Peter’s call on his phone. 

“Kid?”

“Dad! Dad, you’re alright? Ned and I were following the news and the bomb—”

“I’m fine. I wasn’t going, remember? I’m here.”

Peter stays quiet a moment and then asks, “who—who was there then? Dad!—”

“Pete, breathe, kid. I’ll call you back.”

FRIDAY ends the call. Tony confirms Natasha is alright and heads to the compound, having FRIDAY send Peter a message to let him know she’s alright. 

Soon after he arrives upstate, it’s revealed The Winter Soldier was seen in the area. Tony wants to scream. He can practically hear the time bomb ticking before this all takes a sharp left turn. And he knows it’s going to be harder to fix when the King of Wakanda is dead, a prince left devastated, angry and full of what Tony can only imagine, revenge.

Tony relives things at the mere thought of T'Challa's grief, things he didn’t know could be brought up to surface so quickly with such vigor. 

Tony is on the phone putting out all the fires being ignited by Steve, Sam and T'Challa going after Barnes instead of letting the authorities handle it once he's spotted. Power move after power move, he makes sure they don't hurt any of them once they're captured. His most sincere apology will go out to Pepper once this is all over. The things Tony did that one Virginia Potts had to put out, God bless her soul. While on the phone, he has FRIDAY send Peter a message to makes sure he doesn't Spider-Man his way into trouble today.

**Itsy** **Bitsy** **Stark**

**Everyone's alright. Stay home. **

**I will. Stay safe**. 

Bucky escapes, kills five people, almost strangles Natasha, and shoots Tony without a second thought. Tony's three-piece Tom Ford is the new lucky suit. Steve and Sam go after Barnes even after being threatened to be put on house arrest and their gear being confiscated. That doesn't stop them though because his gear and Sam's is missing shortly after they lose track of the three men. Sharp left. Left, left so quickly. Ross reminds Tony about Steve's missing signature on the Accords and Tony tries to not have a breakdown at the thought of what the repercussions will be with Captain America on the bad side of the law.

Ross wants everyone behind bars, including Wanda and Clint who have chosen their side and seem to be on the run with Steve. Tony thinks he can remedy that. It’s his teammates. They can—they _will_ come to an agreement and he will just have to..use power move after power move to help them. He’ll bring them in himself to avoid having them being shot on sight. 

Once Pepper finds out what's going on with a more thorough and accurate depiction of the events, courtesy of Peter Stark, who worries for Tony's mind because it seems he has to fight his friends now, she practically forces Happy to fly out on the jet and be ready in Tony's hotel in case he needs anything. Big or small, it doesn't matter. Both Pepper and Tony know Happy will help with whatever he can. Tony can't even fight her on it. He's grateful that people still look out for him so unconditionally.

—

Tony wonders if he also has invisibility powers he's unaware of and if so, he wants to know if he’d be more successful as someone on the dark side with them. 

“That doctor, the psychiatrist. He’s behind all of this.” 

But Ross gave Tony 36 hours to bring Steve and the rest of them in 24 hours ago. Power moves can only go so far when all evidence points to Barnes. Tony was there. He fought him. Steve has to come in; Ross won't hold back if he sends his people to do it instead. If they don’t mend this now, there will be no coming back from it and there might still be time, but Steve is fixed on staying on his side of the chaos. 

“Your judgment is askew. Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday—”

“And there are five more super soldiers just like him! I can’t let the doctor find them first, Tony. I can’t.”

Before Tony can say anything to that, Natasha tries to get Steve to understand what is about to happen if they go down this inane path of...resistance, and Tony is so grateful for her right in that moment because he feels like he's going crazy, like he's fighting this on his own, so much so that his mind tries to tell him he's in the wrong from how alone he feels in this. But _Natasha_. She's _here_ and on his _side_. He can't help but just feel _grateful_ for her in these trying times because she can help and Tony needs all the help he can get. 

Steve though, just looks at her with a pain he can understand.

“You’re coming with us, because it’s _ us_! I’m trying..” Tony doesn't even want to say it out loud. He’s so caught up on that single thought that he misses when the comms open to add a new line in his ear. “I’m trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart.”

“You did that when you signed.”

Steve's response should not hurt as much as it does because Tony is trying to prevent something worse, and when this begins to feel like Ultron all over again, his anxiety begins to bubble. He has no time to focus on how that builds inside of him because his powers of invisibility, along with the one where he talks and talks and no one hears a word he says, begin to demonstrate how effective they actually are when he takes notice of Steve’s hands suddenly _webbed_ together. His shield is flying upward and out of his hold, _snatched _right from him. Tony looks back to see a very familiar red and blue figure landing on the cargo truck behind him. 

Tony freezes and Peter lands perfectly with the shield in hand. 

“Hey, everyone,” is how he introduces himself, his voice altered enough to not be recognized. “Captain. Spider-Man. Big fan.” 

No one but Tony knows _this _ wasn’t part of the plan and then he hears FRIDAY in the comms, adding _frickin' Spider-Man_ to the line. Peter Stark, never failing to impress Tony. 

“You’ve been busy," Steve evenly says and Tony snaps. He's run out of patience. With everyone. 

“And you’ve been a complete _idiot_," he practically growls out towards him, no other choice but to take his focus from Peter, and give it back to Steve. "'Rescuing' Wanda? Dragging in _Clint_?—” Before he can continue though, Steve raises his webbed hands above his head while staring at Tony with that look of defiance he never thought he'd be on the receiving end of, and an arrow cuts through the webbed cuffs, freeing the supersoldier. And then, then Tony really sees what losing feels like when the team starts going against each other. 

T'Challa, in what Tony found out in the jet on their way here is his Black Panther suit, comes into the scene when the guy on Steve's side grows into his normal height out of nowhere and hits Peter hard enough to making fall on his back; he then grabs the shield. There's no room for conversation on either side and Tony's hope for this being close to over diminishes with each passing second. 

When Tony locates Wanda, he asks Rhodey to take care of Cap and then Peter's voice comes on the comms again with his "Mr. Stark" cover, causing Tony to take a really deep breath and instructing him to keep his distance and web the other side up. 

Left. Left left left.

What’s worse than thinking you’ve killed a kid is thinking you've almost killed your own. The guy that stole the shield from Peter grew 60 feet tall and smacked the kid to the ground and now, Peter is very still when Tony drops beside him, approaching him with shaking hands and afraid to get closer in case he's living his worst nightmare in Germany while the fight is still not even over. Honestly, at this point, if something happens to Peter during this mess, he won't even be surprised. He'll die, sure, but he won't even be surprised.

Just another day in the life. 

He turns the kid to check his face with a lump in his throat that won't let him swallow but then, Peter suddenly wakes and starts defending himself from Tony. 

“Hey, hey. It’s me. Same side.” 

“Oh..Oh hey, dad..That was scary..” 

Peter must be really out of it if he’s calling him “dad” while wearing the Spider-Man suit.

“Yeah. You’re _done_. FRIDAY, send the address of the hotel to his suit. Call Happy."

“No wait, I—”

"You're _done_, you hear me? Go."

"Tony, they're in the quinjet," he hears Rhodey say on the comms as Tony stands and the helmet goes around him as he flies off to be with Rhodey.

He doesn’t know if it’s a good thing or not that he has no window to deal with Peter at the moment because there is almost no time to process what happened when Steve flies away in the jet. With Vision's help, they can stop them but he misses his target and instead, he accidentally hits Rhodey's arc reactor, shutting down the suit and Tony is not fast enough. He doesn't get there in time. 

Tony doesn't know how he's going to tell Peter what happened with Rhodey because the kid was still synced to the comms when it happened, heard him shouting for Rhodey. Tony doesn't know how he's going to _live_ the rest of his life with Rhodey's close call, his calm face when Tony removed the faceplate as he laid on the ground, unmoving. So still. He couldn't reach him in time and now Rhodey's facing a certain form of paralysis. Left. Left left left.

After finalizing his safe transfer back to the states, Tony walks out of the room while he waits for the MRI to be done with his arm in a sling and stands by the window in the hallway. Trying to steady his mind as it races and races, his cell phone keeps vibrating in his pocket. With a shaky breath, afraid that if he makes too many sudden moves he'll burst into screams, he checks the notification from his watch, seeing Happy answered and scrolling to the last few messages from Peter.

**Forehead of Security Hogan**

**Transfer is set. He's okay.**

**Good. When we land I'll notify you**

**Lock him up in the basement**

**Feed him bread and water**

**Tell him Rhodey is okay**

**You got it boss**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark**

**I'm in the jet rn**

**Please just tell me **

**I know you're mad at me**

**That's fine**

**Please don't keep me in the dark about this. **

**Please. **

**Talked to Happy. How are you?**

He remains standing by the window when Vision leaves, and he feels the sting in his eyes, the way his throat begins to hurt at the thought of Rhodey flying blind reoccurring in his head, at Peter's question. How not okay he is. It begins to suffocate him, Tony unable to override the need to crumble right where he stands but Natasha, as quiet as always, stands beside him without him even knowing she was around in the first place. And it stalls the anxiety.

“That’s why Peter was always so interested in watching the trainings.”

Tony, looks down at the sling on his arm from all the cars Wanda literally dropped on him, and doesn’t say anything. 

“He's paid attention. Knew to go for Steve's legs."

He needed Nat, but then again, just another day in the life.

"Your secret is safe with me.”

Tony looks to the side at her words then. He’s so tired, and maybe he thought he’d be a lot angrier than he is right now, but the hurt overpowers his frustration. Tony, never the first, and not even the last person anyone ever thinks about. No one thinks he’d understand, no one has the decency to speak first. Instead, they always judge, assume, punch first, continue to misunderstand him second. 

But that’s fine. It has always been the norm, he realizes. So this is not new, but it hurts all the same. 

“They’re coming for you,” is all he says to her. 

“We played this _wrong_."

"'_We_?'" Tony shakes his head at the sound of that, staring right across the field before him through the window, "boy, it must be hard to shake the double agent thing. Sticks in the DNA."

"Are you incapable of letting go of your ego for one _goddamn_ second?"

Apparently, yeah. Because to everyone else, all Tony Stark ever does is solely to feed his ego. So looking at her, jaw set, he tells her Ross is coming for her since T'Challa told on what she did. She let them go. 

"I’m not the one who needs to watch their back.”

With that, she leaves. 

Discovering Steve was right about Barnes isn’t the hard part. He prefers it this way. It gives the team a fighting chance. It's trying to reverse all they did to get to the right answer that might be the challenge. 

Ross is going to be a headache Tony won't be able to sleep off, or swallow down with aspirin. He holds the rest of the team in horrid conditions, doesn't want to listen about Barnes being framed, and asks about Spider-Man. That's fine. He can fix these new intricacies but right now Tony is there to see if he can get anything on Steve's location, but Clint is placing blame that maybe Tony should take and he would if it applied. Barnes being framed, absolutely. He'll take that to the grave. However, he didn't _force_ Clint out of his retirement to join a futile war, or any of them for that matter.

As much truth as that holds, it doesn't satisfy Tony in the slightest telling him that. 

Sam tells Tony where Steve is, only for Tony to discover shortly after that Barnes killed his parents. Choked his mom. Rogers knew. The entire time. Tony has to force himself to remember that pain, betrayal, _suffering_ isn’t part of his biology, but it seems to latch on like a leech whenever it finds the room for it, as if it's trying to suck the life out of him and replace it with nothing but despair. Oddly enough, that split second before he lets his anger get the best of him, he thinks of Peter. How is he going to react when he finds out Oscorp did kill Mary? Tony knows that's the case, he just has to find the evidence to back it.

Rogers abandons ship and leaves with Barnes. He leaves Tony with his shattered and broken pieces of what's left of him, leaves him to ponder about this moment and how it's not so much a wake up call as it is a warning sign when Rogers walks away.

Trusting so blindly seems to always cost Tony his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did my very best to tidy this up for you all to follow along and for it to remain as true and unbiased as possible. 
> 
> This is my least favorite chapter of this whole thing. It was a pain to write because, dear goodness, I am still so very hurt about CACW: IM4  
And it was just a pain to write period. 
> 
> Please, talk to me in the comments! I hope you enjoyed it either way :)
> 
> Go be happy.


	11. I'm With You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For now, all Tony can do is be grateful for the people that always demonstrate how loved he is, even when he can't feel it. 

Tony limps his way to the couch when he walks through the elevator doors, asking FRIDAY to leave the lights just how they are, almost nonexistent. He drops the shield on the couch across from where he wants to sit, unable to recognize if he could even endure being next to that vibranium frisbee. With a small groan, muscles aching, the cuts on his face stinging and the hurt that surpasses any physical pain, he slowly settles against his seat, closing his eyes.

_"I didn't know it was him, Tony."_

_Tony's patience suddenly hits a wall that he can't climb over, and he asks Steve _again_ if he knew the truth behind his parents' death. Because he seems to know enough to know the whole truth and Tony can see it in his eyes. Steve can't lie to save his life, and Tony desperately wants him to be able to in that horrible moment they've found themselves in because...God._

_"Yes."_

_Oh, God. _

He opens his eyes again and stares at the ceiling wishing his mind would just..shut down for a moment. He doesn't' want to see; he doesn't want to relive; he doesn't want to remember. 

Instead, Tony focuses on trying to understand how he can undergo everything he’s feeling all at once and not be consumed by it. 

“Dad?”

Family. He should’ve been more careful with that. He should’ve known the cost, the consequences in thinking that for once the people that he chose to let in, the ones he allowed himself to create a close circle with were in his corner. What a sham. Team. Loyalty. Family. What was he expecting, that the Avengers were to cultivate a relationship like he was able to do with Pepper? Happy? Something like Rhodey? 

He was willing to try it; he _did_ his part and he opened up enough to let them know he wasn't going to let his walls, his traumas, his fear of deception..thinking he is unworthy of the environment they can grow among each other..those things weren't going to cause any setbacks. He tried not to be the cause as to why the team relationships wouldn't work.

He tries to trace back where it all fell apart, fell apart so quickly because Tony considered these people his friends, his teammates. His _family_. 

"Hello?"

Well. Family, _real_ family, he’s always had even before the Avengers. It has always been small, but it has always been _true_. That was always Rhodey. Pepper. Happy. 

“Dad, you alright?”

That was always Peter. 

“What are you still doing up, Peter. Go to sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.”

_ Not right now, kid. I can't give you anything right now. _

“I heard you..come in and wanted to make s—”

“Peter. Bed.” 

But Peter doesn’t listen as Tony hears his steps coming from around the back of the couch, the kid soon standing in front of him while nervously playing with his hands in that Peter Stark habit. His breath hitches when he notices the condition Tony is, he assumes. 

“Dad, are you alright? Wha-what happened? Tell me what you need—”

“I _need_ you to go to bed, Peter. That’s what I need.” Tony shuts his eyes, forcing himself to recite the elements on the periodic table so he doesn't have to see his mother being choked to death, or his father beaten until his breathing stopped.

But before he can even begin, there she is, calling for Howard and then struggling for air, so he snaps his eyes open and turns his head to the side, staring at nothing in particular out the floor-to-ceiling window.

“I..Can I help you? I don't..” is what he hears Peter whisper, desperate, quiet and voice coated with a pain that forces Tony to lock his gaze on Peter's, catching the way tears gather in his eyes as he stares down at Tony. “I didn’t mean..Dad..” In a small breath, Peter closes his eyes, forcing his tears to fall when he does. 

Seeing Peter upset has never been something Tony can handle. Parenting is not for everyone, and he thought it would never be for him but here he is: betrayed, angry, mourning, and all of that dies down just enough for him to be undone at the sight of his son in such misery. 

“I didn’t mean to make things more difficult, please understand that. Please..let me help you.”

When Peter leans towards him, tries to reach for him, on a very unfortunate and untimely reflex, Tony flinches away, regretting it as soon as he does it. It’s too soon, it’s too _ much. _Peter drops his head as he stands back up and Tony averts his eyes as the kid stands straight before him. He doesn’t know why his voice seems to be out of service but Tony doesn’t try to fix what took place, knowing he couldn't even if he wanted to. His mind hasn’t settled. It’s still trapped in the Siberian chambers. 

“I’ll be in my room if you need anything.” Tony hears the way Peter tries to stay composed when he speaks, but he speaks nonetheless. 

The kid always speaks up even if his voice trembles. 

Tony takes his time to regroup when Peter is gone. He tries to reinstate himself in the tower, to take deep breaths and remember that he’s alive and that’s as far as he lets his mind be grateful for. What feels like hours is only minutes before he slowly stands up, nursing his arm at the elbow and heading to Peter’s room. The soft cries his ears pick up on when he stands in front of his kids’ door hurt more than he thought he was able to feel at the moment and again, that diminishes all other things his mind was racing through. 

He knocks on the door twice, hesitantly, ready to be sent away if Peter decided to do so but instead, Peter's cries still for a moment and then his voice proceeds to tell Tony to enter. He does without a word and Peter’s brown eyes briefly land on him, wet and full of a pain Tony can’t seem to ignore, almost entirely replacing it with his own this time around.

Slowly, Tony walks over to the bed and sits in front of him with his eyes to the door. Peter sits with his back to the headboard and on the edge of the bed with one leg at an angle as the other one hangs from the mattress. His shoulders shake slightly with the occasional sound of his sniffles and his head bowed. 

No one speaks for a moment while all that’s heard is Peter's quiet cries, soft, almost restrained. Tony sits so that his body is facing him when he can't take any more of the sounds coming from the kid. He can't seem to be able to speak, his voice makes no recovery so instead of asking for Peter to look up, Tony grabs hold of his face, palm bracing either side of his cheeks, and lifts it up so that he's forced to look at Tony. Peter’s eyes are shut tight though, and his continued sobs just add to Tony’s hopelessness. Nothing is said for a moment, but Tony doesn’t let go of him, trying his best to remain calm, to remain composed, but Peter’s pain seeps right into his system and it’s as if it overflows from him also. And so he lets the tears he tries to restrain fall, quietly, no fuss and releases nothing but a deep breath. 

"Peter..." He wants to know what's the matter, wants to apologize for rejecting him, wants to tell him it's not his fault that Tony reacted that way earlier. He wants to know but if Tony speaks again, his voice will break and in turn, so will he altogether.

He holds Peter steady, but Peter won't open his eyes and neither does he put up a fight against Tony's grip around his face. And Tony wants to speak, he wants to—he just..

“I _ love _you, kid, you understand?” 

Peter’s response is nothing but a less sustained cry, his eyes remaining shut. Tony almost loses his own composure then but the kid needs to hear this; Tony can break and shatter after. He has to make sure Peter _ understands _that it's not him, that Tony's outbursts, his reactions to Peter have nothing to do with the kid. He has to know or Tony won’t be able to live and the need for the release of those things in his chest begin to effervesce. 

“Just because I’m..upset or angry..or..._scared_, and I'm..reactive, it doesn’t dilute that I _love_ you, you understand?" 

Peter cries. Tony tries not to. 

“Answer me,” his voice breaks when he demands a response. “Do you understand?”

“Y-yes, sir.”

His eyes don’t open while Tony's hold doesn’t soften either. Peter decompresses and Tony closes his own eyes when the kid yields to his cries. He moves towards his son, because that’s who has saved him all these years: from the wreckage, from the hurt, from loss of hope, from himself. It’s this wonderful kid, who got dealt a terrible hand on the lineage side of his life and still manages to put his best smile above it. Even if he only knows half the truth. There is no Rogers, no Barnes. There is no missing Pepper until Tony's lightheaded, no best friend that's injured because of him. No mother who left too soon, nor a father that made Tony question if he was worth anything more than a snarky remark and half acquaintances with him. All of that stills for a moment when he recognizes he has a son that proves all of Tony's self-hatred is just a byproduct of things that happened around him, to him, for him. 

It's not real, it can't be. Because if this boy can love Tony for who he is then..

With a kiss to the kid's forehead, Peter completely breaks down at the touch and drops his forehead against Tony’s shoulder, Tony holding him as his boy cries against him. When Peter is finally able to look up, his eyes red-rimmed and swollen from crying, his hiccups and batted breath don’t let him say much. All he does is wipe Tony’s tears away, a gesture Peter doesn't do often but it always causes Tony's breath to stop short. 

"I'm sorry I went against what you said," Peter whispers, playing with his hands as he stares at Tony with tears gathering in his eyes again. "I'm sorry."

Tony nods because he can't discuss that at the moment. He feels so tired, so heavy and disoriented. The need that settles over him to lay down and sleep the week off is a lot more apparent in mind now that he has cleared at least one thing. 

“Are you okay, dad?”

Fatherhood is not for everyone, but for those who decide to take it to heart, it is most rewarding. 

Tony nods, in truth, because he is so fortunate to have his son. Despite this absurd week, he's grateful—_always—_for Peter. 

“I am now, squirt.” He places his palm on the side of Peter’s face, the kid grinning sadly through his tears that mutely fall now.

"We can talk if you'd like. Whatever you need."

"I know, kid. Tomorrow, alright? You rest." 

Peter throws himself against Tony with a hug and nothing else, Tony shutting his eyes at the embrace and kissing the side of Peter's head, even if his muscles complain at the touch. Standing slowly, aching and so very tired, he walks out of the room without a look back and leaves Peter sitting on his bed, looking after him as he exits.

After storing the shield in the workshop, Tony showers and makes it quick and efficient so that his mind doesn't try to strangle him. It takes a bit but he thinks about Peter's second birthday and through his quiet tears, he lets out a choked up chuckle when he pictures that chubby cheeked terror smashing his hands on the birthday cake. A complete heathen.

When he is done dressing after he gets out of the shower, he starts to crawl into bed, thinking about the repercussions to follow if he calls Pepper, knowing full and well he can't do that. So he restrains. He'd like to tell her that he misses her, that Howard's time was cut short, that maybe he could've shown Tony how to feel something other than the resentment and annoyance he made Tony believe he felt toward him had he not been killed. His mom could've met Peter and she would've loved Pepper for the time she was with him. He'd like to tell her about his friends, about the way they turned their backs on him, how he feels like he has turned his back on them and maybe that's why they retaliated. How he's confused about how he could've handled the situation so that it wouldn't have gone the way it did. Because it does not matter what Tony does to make things better: it never works out for the people that seem to need it the most. This time, the whole universe is now unprotected and he can't help the guilt that bubbles up as his mind begins to tell him he's at fault. He'd like to hear what she has to say on all of this, one Pepper Potts never failing to give Tony the truth no matter how difficult it is to hear.

He releases a sigh as he lays on his back, eyes straight to the ceiling and feeling so alone. Because Peter is just a kid, and yes Tony can talk to him but he doesn't need to hear any of this. Not now. Maybe ever.

Restless on his mattress in complete darkness, and still staring at nothing in particular above him, clouds slowly start appearing just like they do in Peter’s room. 

“FRIDAY?”

“Peter asked me to display them.”

He doesn't know if it's the thought, the person behind it or that these clouds represent more than a beautiful life in Tony's crazy one; they always tell him everything will be alright. He doesn't know what causes his throat to burn and his eyes to sting, but he breaks down as he watches the fluffy puffs calmly and ever so gracefully float above him.

When he hears a knock on the door, he's unable to answer. Peter peeks his head through the door seconds later and doesn't wait for Tony to invite him in to enter the room. Without a word, just Tony's sobs, Peter moves over to the bed and lays next to him. He doesn't gift any glances to the kid and holds nothing back as he cries while he stares directly at the clouds above him. Peter, this too-good-to-be real boy, holds Tony’s hand in the quiet of the room, sharing nothing more than his comfort and loyalty to his father. 

Because Peter might’ve been a real big Thor fan, and Bruce might’ve been his favorite Avenger, but Peter never once had Tony doubting he was his favorite person—even with Virginia "Pepper" Potts in the vicinity. Everyone might have someone to choose before they choose Tony, but that has never been the case with Peter. 

"I'm with you, dad," he quietly and firmly declares as he keeps his grip secured on Tony's hand. 

It breaks all the walls, and Tony's pain resurfaces with everything going through his mind at the sound of Peter's words. If he doesn't let go of everything he's undergoing, he'll choke on it. 

"I'm with you."

So he lets go and cries until he can't anymore. 

—

Tony wakes up in silence from seeing his mother being strangled to death and his father beaten until nothing was left of him. His eyes open and the heaviness in his chest secures its spot. It’s a quarter to nine when he asks FRIDAY for the time, seeing that Peter is no longer in the room. Instead, he finds a note taped to the headboard as he sits up and his feet hit the ground. The small chuckle that comes to Tony when he reads the note is welcomed. This, amongst hearing and reading about the spiderboy's wit, is signature Peter Stark, Spider-Man. He grabs the note and sets it on the nightstand, standing up and heading to the bathroom to check on his cuts, his arm still aching but nothing like yesterday.

After he's dressed and ready for the day, he grabs the note and puts it in his back pocket and heads to the kitchen.

"Peter asked Jenna to have breakfast ready. Everything is on the stove and your coffee is staying warm on the pot."

"The Itsy Bitsy Stark never failing when it comes to making this old man feel better," Tony mumbles with a small grin as he pours his coffee. 

FRIDAY calls Rhodey for the third time per Tony's request in the last hour as Tony works on the leg braces in the workshop, only one cup of coffee down and very much prisoner to his mind as he creates the best set of braces for his friend. The bitter taste in his mouth as he makes sure they're perfect for Rhodey feels permanent as Rhodey will need these for the same amount of time. After the last attempt in speaking to the colonel, Tony takes a two minute break since his arm is being a lot louder in its pain the longer he works. 

"Boss, you've got a text message from Colonel Rhodes."

Tony stands and heads to his desktop, slumping on it with a breath and instructs FRIDAY to read the message. She displays it in front of him as she reads them. 

**Rhodeylove**

**You think I don't know what you're doing?**

**You call when you KNOW I can't answer**

**I'll call when Pete's here**

**Deal? **

**And when I call, answer me**

**Yes dear**

**I hate you.**

Tony can't help the small fit of laughter as he stands up from the chair and heads back to his work station. He's glad Rhodey does know him the way he does, because he wasn't even aware of that subconscious move with the phone calls. A part of him tells him Rhodey will hate him forever after all that's happened, but they've known each other since Tony was 15 and there has never been someone so unconditional and understanding on his side. They'll be okay, even if the guilt is to be with Tony for as long as he's breathing, he won't lose Rhodey.

"Boss, Jenna is finished with lunch."

Tony lifts his head and confused actually looks up to the ceiling to FRIDAY's response.

"What?"

"Peter instructed to have lunch ready no later than 2:30pm. He told me to shut down whatever project you were in the middle of were you not compliant with the lunch schedule."

Tony takes off his goggles and sets his screwdriver down, taking the glass of water DUM-E wheels his way. He looks at the bot suspiciously and then asks FRIDAY who else is in the Keep Tony Stark Alive Per Peter's Instructions Protocol. When she tells him that he told DUM-E to keep him hydrated and for FRIDAY to make sure he eats at least twice before he's back from school, Tony stands still for a moment. 

"I don't want to lock you out of your own lab, boss. Please, start heading upstairs as soon as you can."

Slightly shocked, Tony looks at DUM-E, the bot's claw opening and closing when he does, and pats him in silence. He looks up again, in the same manner Peter did with JARVIS until he was eleven. Without a word, he sets the cup down and looks around the room as he heads to the doors. 

"Thank you. I'll inform Peter you're collaborating exquisitely."

"'Exquisitely?' Really, FRIDAY?"

"Well, are you not?"

He has half a mind to roll his eyes because he knows she is having way too much fun with this new system that's being implemented. His shock is pushing him to move almost methodically because Peter Stark, never failing to impress him.

Tony gets to the kitchen as Jenna finishes cleaning up. He thanks her for the delicious plate and with that, she begins to gather things from the island, ready to leave Tony in the kitchen as he is staring at the plate on the peninsula; his stomach complains at the sight of the plate and figures Peter's idea isn't too troublesome after all. When he moves to grab a drink from the refrigerator, he notices a bowl, covered and presenting itself off limits as it sits on the stove.

"Oh, yes. Mr. Stark, that's Mr. Peter's. He asked me to make that for him and set the plate aside."

"What is it?" Tony asks as he stands by the stove, pointing to the plate and looking at her.

With a trace of a smile, she answers with, "tater tots."

Tony looks at the large bowl and grins down at it without lifting the cover from it. He turns to Jenna, thanking her again as she leaves the kitchen. There is no way Tony can love someone this much. He sends Peter a message because he can't resist not doing it. 

**Itsy Bitsy Stark **

**Can I have one?**

**??????????**

**OOOOHHHH**

**AFTER you eat your food. **

**Wow, you're strict. **

**Fooled by the babyface, I see**

**Tried to warn ya. **

"I'm gonna pinch his nose when he gets here," Tony mumbles to himself between a chuckle as he closes the screen from his phone and begins to eat his lunch-for-one Jenna prepared. He places his napkin on his lap and as he's about to take his first bite, he gets an incoming call from Ross. Tony answers it with a sigh, Ross' greeting being a very friendly, "Stark. We need to talk about Spider-Man." Yes, he was at the airport. No, Tony had no idea he was going to be there. No, Tony has no idea who it is under the mask—which, is a lie he won't disclose. Yes, he will tell Ross who it is if he finds out—which, see the third statement. 

"Uh, please hold."

"Stark—"

Tony has FRIDAY hold the call and begins to eat his lunch that Peter so kindly arranged for him to have, and on his second bite, FRIDAY announces Pepper is in the tower and headed up to the penthouse.

He stops chewing, a small panic raising as he stands from his seat.

“What? Why? Did she say she was coming?” Tony asks FRIDAY to revisit scheduled meeting times, events, galas, but the A.I comes up empty. He hangs up on Ross with a zero promise of a callback and asks FRIDAY to double check, though she takes offense that he's trying to ruin her perfect record of efficiency. Either way, it’s too late. One dashing Pepper Potts enters the penthouse living room and then heads straight for the kitchen. Tony walks around the peninsula and stops short at the sight of her in her casual attire: dark jeans and that leather jacket Tony loves to see her in, her hair cascading down her back and face bare, her peppering freckles exposed. 

Stunned with nothing to say because he has no idea what he was supposed to have prepared for her, Pepper rushes over to him without saying a word herself and throws her arms around him once she's close enough. 

“Pep?”

“Are you alright?” she asks in the middle of her tight embrace, Tony’s arms holding her, confused but reciprocating the same intensity in his hold. 

“I—yeah. What’s—I’m fine. Are _you_? What’s going on?”

Pepper lets go of him then and the worry in her cloudy blue eyes confuses Tony further. He notices she is staring at his black eye and the cut right by his right cheek right below it, and as she does, her eyes start welling up with tears and a small shaky breath escapes her lips. It all makes sense for him then but he has no idea what the protocol is here. How does he respond to this type of reaction from his ex-girlfriend? The love of his life?

“It’s just a scratch. I’ll be fine,” he tries to reassure her, holding his right arm by his elbow. 

“Well, I’m glad to hear it,” she breathes out, “does this arm hurt?” she points to his perfectly good one and Tony shakes his head, his eyes wide open and his heart beating faster than usual at the sight of her so close, so very much the woman he fell in love with, and lets go of his arm. 

Pepper Potts smacks Tony Stark on that perfectly good arm and her tears begin to fall as she does it again, Tony trying to shield himself from her hits as she continues to smack him between each word she speaks in the process. 

“Why! Didn’t! You! Call! Me!”

“Pep, wait!_ Pep!_”

“No! _No_!” She stops hitting him and steps back with slightly labored breaths and unceremoniously pushing her hair out of her face. “God, Tony, you can’t _ do _ things like that! You have to call! How many times—you need to call! You’re going to be late from a mission? Send a text. You need help? Call for backup or whatever! You're hurt? Can't get up? Ask for help and call. You’re in trouble? You _ call_! Why! Don’t! You! Ever! Call!” she finishes with a few more smacks to his good sides. 

“I—hey, stop it! I couldn’t call this time, even if I wanted to—Pepper!”

But she’s not holding back her cries when she stops again, brushing her hair back with very small but visual panic in the way she tries to gather herself.

“Peter was worried sick and I couldn't reach you! I heard about Rhodey but he didn't answer me either and I thought—FRIDAY said you were _offline—_where were you? What the hell! How did—God, Tony!" She goes for one more hit, but this time, Tony catches her hand and holds it; she takes it back with a grunt. 

“Pepper, I’m _ fine_, honey. Hey.” He holds her shoulders when he steps closer to her, Pepper not retreating nor rejecting his touch. “Fine. Rode back home with Wakanda royalty, actually. They took care of me. I made it.”

She scoffs at his answer and looks to the side, shaking her head. And maybe it’s because the hurt dies before the habit does but he wipes the tears that fall from her eyes, trying to give her a comforting smile when she looks back at him. Tony almost loses track of where he is when she does. The moment doesn't last long because reality begins to push down on Tony's shoulders again, the ice underneath him cracking at his weight. Letting her go, she lowers her head and they both take a single step back from each other. 

“Fine. Alive. Thanks for checking in.”

Pepper inhales a deep breath and then looks up at Tony as she puts a piece of her hair behind her ear. She holds his gaze for as long as she wants, for as long as she needs to because Tony knows that look. And he will have to be killed in order to turn away from it. 

“I _ am _ a wreck," she confesses, her arms briefly spread out in complete surrender. “I am always worrying if you’re going to die—whether I’m with you or not, whether you’re in Germany and I’m in Tokyo. Whether you’re my..and I am..” She takes a deep breath and her tears fall fresh and thick on her face, Tony noticing he’s started moving over to her in a pace so meticulous, he doesn’t realize it until she’s finished talking and he’s wiping her tears again. 

“Tony..Your..mistakes, and decisions, I know you mean well. Even if everything falls apart in the process. You—_you_ make me more of a wreck and I _hate_ it..but I want you to know that no matter what happens, I _am_.._so _proud of the man you’ve become."

And then Tony remembers where all of this is coming from. Good heavens, he is madly in love with this woman. He stands before her, looking down at her hands as he takes them into his with a smirk on his lips. 

“I _ am..._wildly conflicted.” She might not be able to finish speaking, and even as she cries, there’s a grace to it, Tony drowning in everything she is. “And it does make me crazier about you.”

Pepper and Peter have this..superpower that leaves Tony speechless at their disposition. And it’s activated right now as he shuts his eyes and gently drops his forehead on hers. Pepper cries for a few moments, this time unrestrained and open in everything she's feeling. Tony puts his shaking hands around her waist, promising that he’s alright, holding her there. Not moving, just shushing her because that's all that the lump in his throat allows for him to say. Pepper takes a few deep breaths, calming down as Tony’s hands begin pushing a piece of her hair back. He dares to place a kiss to her forehead as she brings her arms to her chest, Tony moving so that he can wrap her in an embrace he can't believe he's in the middle of. 

He missed her a lot more than he thought he did when he holds her like this. They get so lost in their grasp that they miss when FRIDAY announces Peter’s arrival from school and finds them holding each other. 

The kid clears his throat, startling both Ms. Potts and Mr. Stark. At the sight of Pepper’s distress, Peter’s face creases in worry as he starts walking over to them. 

“What is it? What happened?”

Pepper swipes at her cheeks as she takes a deep breath and explains to Peter she was checking on Tony, though Peter doesn't look convinced at what she tells him. 

“Fine, Pete. Everything is fine," Tony attempts to convey. 

Still holding a suspicion in his eye, Peter walks over to Tony and hugs him just how he always does. Always so full. 

“Hey, kid,” he whispers, kissing the top of his head. “Pepper’s back. It’s Thursday, where’s the big date?” Tony asks as Peter lets go and hugs Pepper. 

“Actually...Pepper, is it okay if I stay with dad today?”

“Of cou—”

“What? Why? I said I was fine. You guys go. It’s been quite a long time since you’ve had your super annoying exclude-Tony-out-of-everything Thursdays!”

Peter rolls his eyes and Pepper gives that feigned exasperated look he could kiss right off her. 

“Dinner here?” She suggests this with a questioning look to Peter. 

"Yes!"

"Tony, is it alright I stay for dinner?" 

"Oh, you mean I can be part of the Thursday party?" He asks as he walks over to his seat and sits down, grabbing his fork and pointing between the two of them where they stand. "You sure? Isn't it against the rules to have me on a Thursday? Not gonna spontaneously go up in flames if I dine with you?"

Pepper tries to hide her smile as Peter takes off his backpack with a small groan, drops it by his feet and says, "can we _ please _ have cheeseburgers for dinner? These past two weeks have been _surreal_."

Pepper looks at Peter with a full smile as Tony stabs another piece of his lunch into his fork and brings it to his lips. She puts her arm around Peter's shoulder and drops her cheek on top of Peter's head.

"Oh, Peter. Your Tony Stark is showing."

Peter smiles at Tony as Pepper hugs him. 

After lunch, while Peter takes care of his homework, Tony finishes Rhodey's braces so that they can operate in the War Machine armor. Pepper enters the shop as he's reprimanding DUM-E and U for not recording things properly.

"Don't be such a grump, Tony." Pepper walks over to the bots, patting them and evoking the roll of eyes of the century when she does as he shuts the screens displaying the schematics for the War Machine armor.

"I spoke to Rhodey today."

Tony looks at Pepper as she speaks, her hand still petting DUM-E while she warmly smiles at the bot.

"How is he?"

"Good. He finally called me back."

Tony nods, slow and nervous without knowing why as he faces his station again and stares at the braces that sit there, complete and ready for use. 

"Tony."

When she calls his name like that, the weight it holds unsettles him. Tony takes a deep breath when he hears her steps approach and he leans against the table, his mind replaying how Tony wasn't fast enough, how Rhodey fell. How it all fell. 

Hands behind the table, head bowed, he watches Rhodey fall. Over and over and over—

"Happy mentioned what happened, and Rhodey clued me in on the gaps Happy left. You know this isn't your fault, right?"

Pepper stands in front of him when she asks her question and Tony looks up to face her, not saying anything in return, feeling the way his eyes begin to sting as she keeps her gaze on his. Tony can't accept that when he doesn't believe it to be entirely true. Pepper doesn't push for a response from him, just takes a step closer until Tony drops his forehead against her collarbone. And in that moment, he wants her back more than he can think straight. One more chance. His heart starts thumping against his chest in a way that makes him wonder if Peter can hear it all the way in the living room because she holds him in that way only she can do.

He looks up at her when she lets go, though he doesn't move his hands from where they've positioned themselves around her waist; she doesn't say anything in return and so he remains quiet himself.

"Not your fault," she quietly affirms, her hands on either side of his face when she speaks, her hold never short of gentle.

"Is that all, Ms. Potts?"

"No, Mr. Stark."

It's a revival, an entire ceremony that takes place when he feels Pepper's lips against his. 

Deciding to put a pin on the conversation they need to have about their return to each other, Tony and Pepper are now upstairs as they wait for the burgers to arrive. Meanwhile, Peter calls Rhodey, talking about nothing and everything for ten minutes straight. Pepper sits by Peter on the couch, joining the conversation on occasion and making Rhodey laugh while Tony stays in the kitchen by the island, pretending he’s reading whatever article FRIDAY pulls up about Spider-Man on his phone. 

“Dad, Uncle Rhodey says you can’t just tell him you're gonna build him legs and avoid him forever!” Peter shouts from the living room, Pepper, barefoot and at ease, walking into the kitchen and to the refrigerator when he hears Peter's voice drift from where he is. “He says he will hate you for real if you don’t answer his phone call when he calls you tonight!”

Pepper grabs a water bottle and as she passes by him, she briefly puts her hand on his shoulder and walks back to the living room. Guilt will try to keep him bound forever, but Rhodey deserves better than that. 

“Tell him to say that to my face at lunch tomorrow,” he shouts, closing the application on his phone and locking it as he decides to join the crowd in the living room. 

“Can I go with you?”

Tony enters the living room, Pepper’s feet underneath her as she sits by the kid, leaning in to see Rhodey on the video call as Peter's eyes follow Tony’s steps all the way to the loveseat across from them. Rhodey answers Peter's question before Tony does, bringing a smirk to his lips when he looks to Peter. 

“If you don’t bring Peter, I won’t let you in, you hear me?”

Burgers prove to be the right call, even if Pepper’s is a plant-based one. Tony will do all things green, all things healthy. But cheeseburgers? That’s to stay original. For life. 

  
  


As the three of them finish cleaning the kitchen, Tony laughing at Peter's and Pepper's conversation as they agree and disagree on whatever they were supposed to talk about on their dinner, Tony's heart feels so light. It takes him by surprise he can feel that way when only 24 hours ago he wanted to disappear off the face of the earth. And right as he's grateful, there his mother is, dying, and there Rogers is throwing everything out the window, and there Rhodey is falling from the sky, and there everyone lies dead on the ground because Tony could've done more, he could've saved—

"Tony?"

"Yeah." He looks up at the sound of Pepper's voice from across the counter, thankful she brings him back out from seeing his mother gasping for air, and Rogers being the most short sighted human supersoldier he'd ever encounter in all his life. 

From Tony not being able to catch the trap in time, from Rogers' friendship hurting him the way it did. 

"Dad?"

"Yup. What's up?" He stands straight with the water bottle in hand and Pepper and Peter give each other a concerned side glance. "What? You were saying?"

"We asked if we can stay with uncle Rhodey this weekend...Are you okay?"

Tony nods, taking a gulp from his water bottle. 

"Dad, your heart—"

"What? What about his heart?" Pepper looks between Tony and Peter as Peter's mouth snaps shut and he stands from his seat next to Pepper, walking around the peninsula and standing by Tony. 

"You're scaring Pep, kid." Tony holds the back of Peter's neck reassuringly as Peter's eyes fill with worry as he's standing in front of him. "I'm fine," he confirms for Pepper, "was just thinking. Back in the room. Fine."

They continue to look at him and in the silence and their worry, Tony's faulty mind brings him back to those dreams he had with Maria and Peter, how much she looked like she was enjoying the kid's company.

"_Dad_."

Tony takes his hand off of Peter and runs it down his face at the sound of Peter's call. He looks to him and thinks for a moment.

"Whatever you need," Peter reminds him and Tony deflates at the sound of his words, kissing his son's forehead in response to his solidarity and comradery. With an arm around the kid now as he brings him against his chest, he looks at Pepper. 

Her worry remains. 

Tony tells them what took place in Siberia after he discovered the truth about Barnes being framed in the most tactful way he can muster. The fall out between Tony and Rogers has nothing to do with Peter. He isn't trying to make Peter anti-Captain America so he keeps it need-to-know for the kid's sake. He mentions how he and Rogers got into a very long and ugly argument because he withheld the information about his parents' death. How he felt betrayed. There is no mention of Spider-Man when he tells them about Rhodey and the airport scene. That's a decision Peter has to make on his own to tell Pepper, and Tony trusts he will make the right one at the appropriate time.

As he continues to speak to them, Pepper holds Peter's hand and like that they stay throughout the story. They don't interrupt Tony once. While he speaks, listening to the events now that he's a lot less driven by his emotions and can sort of see things with a lot more perspective, he seems to understand—go figure. All in all, Tony realizes what really happened that night his parents died. It’s not the Winter Soldier he’s really mad at anymore. He will always hold the proper sort of pain to the name but he was never his _friend_. He didn't feel betrayed or..abandoned by Barnes. 

“I'm sorry you had to see that, Tony. You couldn't have known that man's plan was this...fallout to take place. This _isn't_ your fault,” is what Pepper affirms once he's finished talking, her hand still holding Peter’s as they sit in front of Tony on the couch. 

Peter doesn’t say anything, but his eyes carry those unshed tears that make his eyes bigger, more innocent and Tony wants to rip all his hair out at the sight as he sits at the edge of the coffee table. 

“Doesn’t matter if it is my fault, does it?” The quiet in his voice as he drops his head, running his hand through his hair, feels desperate. He stands the moment the panic begins raising. “Rhodey's.. I wish I could’ve..I don’t know..done things differently, maybe..” But he has no real words to back that up because just as Rogers had his reasons, so did Tony. And in his heart, he believed he was doing the right thing. “Maybe we could’ve handled each other differently—I _don't know_. His plan shouldn't have worked, you understand? We shouldn't have been divided so easily.”

Tony looks out the window for a moment. "He should've told me," he whispers as he stares at the buildings ahead.

The team is needed. And now half of them are fugitives, Vision is ready to switch sides, Rhodey can't walk, Bruce is still missing and Tony can only do so much on his own. When he glances at Peter, he feels his throat closing at the thought of him fighting a war that isn't his to win because of a losing battle between the people who were supposed to fight in the first place.

He sees fire. 

Peter stands from his spot on the couch as Tony watches him approach. The kid stands before Tony with those big brown doe eyes letting tears fall effortlessly. "I am..so sorry, dad."

“It’s alright, kid. It’ll be fine.” Tony brings Peter in for a hug, his chin on top of his head and Peter holds Tony tight in return. Like he always does. 

“I’m with you, dad. I’m with you.”

Tony has to shut his eyes at the kid's fierce words as he holds his son against him. Pepper looks down as she brings her hands to her face, her faint sounds that reveal she's crying also making Tony's heart ache.

After Peter is asleep, at her request, Tony tells Pepper how it all happened in Siberia, why he couldn't call, why she couldn't reach him. She knew he was withholding information of his own and after she calls for Happy to pick her up, he tells her everything. He tells her about going over to the Siberia chambers as a friend, tells her about watching the video with Barnes in the same room. He tells her about his fight with Rogers, how no one stopped. No one stopped until they were incapable of continuing. He tells her about how hurt he really is by all of this, how he wishes he could've handled things differently and yet not finding a better way in his mind to regard the issues from the beginning. 

"He was right there, Pep. He killed my mom and Steve wanted me to just..bypass that. I couldn't help it. I.." 

Pepper doesn't say anything, just listens. And they remain quiet when Tony seems to be finished speaking. They sit in the living room, Pepper's hand holding Tony's in a comforting silence as he lets his quiet cries fill the space where they wait for Happy to come and get her. He's glad she doesn't say anything because he doesn't know if there is anything she can possibly say that would give him what he really wants. A functioning time machine with no rules applicable so that he could've found Barnes before HYDRA did. Take things from there. 

"Boss," FRIDAY interrupts, sounding as apologetic as any human could sound, "Happy is outside for Ms. Potts."

Tony stands, taking Pepper's hand and helping her up. She stands in silence with her eyes locked on his as he grins at her with a soft "thank you." 

"I'll call you tomorrow."

He nods and leads her to the elevator. When they stand before the doors, she hastily throws her arms around him, holding him tight. He returns the gesture. 

"You're not alone in this. I'm here," she whispers, squeezing him in her embrace.

He shuts his eyes as he lets himself remember the lavender scent she always gives off, the gentleness even in her roughest moments. She pulls away and gives a gentle grip to his hand in hers. 

"Is that all, Mr. Stark?" She quietly asks with a hint of that famous Pepper Potts smirk.

Tony leans in and kisses her cheek, responding with, "that will be all, Ms. Potts."

The elevator doors open and she walks through them, turning to face Tony with a small wave as the doors slide closed. He stands before them for a moment and his heart is about to stop altogether when Peter's voice comes out of nowhere. 

"Is that really what happened?"

Tony clutches his chest trying to gain his breath as he asks FRIDAY to brighten the lights. 

"Weren't you supposed to be _asleep_?"

"I heard you crying—did you and Cap really fight? Is that why you came home the way you did?" 

"But I'm fine and..everyone was—"

"How can you say that? He could've killed you!"

"I could've killed him too, you know?" Tony walks over to Peter, who has nothing to say when Tony responds with that. "This is between me and Rogers, kid." Peter doesn't answer, and Tony pokes him gently between his eyebrows, asking him to change his face and go back to bed. 

Peter's crease disappears when he nods, looking down at his hands but doesn't move from where he stands. 

"What is it?"

Peter remains silent at the sound of Tony's question.

"What, Pete?" Tony gently picks up his head up by his chin and Peter's anxious eyes meet his. Tony lifts his eyebrows in signs of urging him on and it seems to work.

"I wanted to know..if maybe some time...you can tell me more about..my grandparents?"

Tony grins at his words, unable to hide the sadness he feels behind it, he's sure. With a nod, he places his arm around Peter's shoulders and they begin to move towards the kid's bedroom. Peter looks up at him, playing with his hands and Tony sighs in a way that feels a lot more peaceful than he'd thought he'd feel this soon. 

He looks down at Peter, a happier grin when he does, and pinches the kid's nose, taking Peter by surprise. 

"Hey! What was that for?!"

"Not letting me have a tater tot earlier. I made a promise."

"_Huh_?!"

"To myself! I always keep my word, Stark."

Peter rolls his eyes as they keep moving to the kid's bedroom, Tony's arm still around Peter's shoulders. 

"I'm telling uncle Rhodey you pinched my nose."

"You wouldn't," Tony dares, narrowing his eyes in suspicion as they reach the door and Peter walks through it with Tony following him. 

"Get ready for the wrath of the colonel, Mr. Iron Man, _sir_."

Tony drapes his hand over Peter's face and pushes him back against his bed with a chuckle of his own, the kid not far behind in the amusement. 

"Go to bed or that's two weeks without Spider-Man."

"What?! When was it the one?!" Peter asks in genuine shock as he sits on his bed while Tony walks to the door. "Dad!"

Tony begins to head towards the door and turns around at the door as he slowly starts to close it with his eyes on Peter. He pokes his head through once he leaves it ajar while Peter stands on top of his bed with a face full of disbelief, arms spread out as he waits for an answer. 

"Oh, uh, Germany? Sneaking into the jet with Happy? Almost giving him a heart attack when he had to pick up a Peter Stark in the bathroom of an airport in a foreign country? Going against what I told you not to do? Should I go on?"

"No, sir," he says while gesturing quick finger guns. "Goodnight." The kid gets down from the bed and proceeds to get under the covers.

"That's what I thought." Tony nods as he closes the door. 

"I love you! You're the best dad to ever live!" Peter shouts before Tony can walk away from the closed door. 

"I love you most! Go to bed or I'm selling the suit on eBay. I mean it!" He hears Peter's chuckles before he walks away, deciding to call it a night and catch up on a few chapters of the Harry Potter series he promised Peter he would read while he waits for Rhodey's call. 

He will have to take things one day at a time and deal with them as they come. For now, all Tony can do is be grateful for the people that demonstrate how much he is loved, even when he can't feel it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Life has gotten insane on this side of town, so I apologize as to how late this is. 
> 
> But thank you thank you thank you for always coming back and reading! And for those of you who always comment, you have no idea how much that means to me.
> 
> THANK YOU. For your kind words, your excitement, your own stories and how you relate to this one. Can't express my gratitude enough. Thank you. 
> 
> Keep talking to me in the comments! I really hope you liked this one. <3000
> 
> Team Irondad. 3000, sis. 
> 
> Go be happy.


	12. The Silence Doesn't Last Long But it's Loud When it's Present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grab onto it while it's within your grasp;  
the thief comes stronger with each comeback.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello! Happy New Year, my loves!
> 
> Welcome back! It's been quite a while but I've come bearing gifts! 
> 
> While I was editing the story to publish it, the remaining chapters are quite lengthy and will remain that way starting with this one. I know I said I would post the rest of them by today, but it's so much tweaking and editing (remember this was something I never planned on publishing so I wrote without much care to how it read) that has to get done, that I've decided to post daily so that they are well done instead of me rushing through them. Remember I have no beta so I'm sorry for the things I did miss D:
> 
> I wanna thank you for coming back and waiting, and again for those who follow this story and always leave a comment and show your love whichever way you do:
> 
> Thank you. Can't express that enough.
> 
> And again, sorry for the wait. You know how life can come out of nowhere and shove you so hard you can barely stand. But I'm standing and steady!
> 
> Enjoy!

“I know what I saw, Iron Man, _ sir. _I’m 14, not stupid.” Peter is pointing his spoon at Tony from where he stands by the sink. He brings his bowl to his lips and drinks the last of the milk of his cereal. “I’m just saying, I wanna be the first to know.”

“Peter,” Tony sighs out for what feels like the hundredth time, his right hand covering his eyes this time around, "yes. _ Fine. _School. Now.”

The kid sets the plate in the sink and walks over to Tony, smirking as he stands in front of him, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.

“You’re _ blushing_! AWWW, _ DAD_!!!!!”

He laughs. How can Tony _ not _laugh? It’s Pepper and Peter, and the fact that the kid is a trip and Tony loves him for it every day, and the way his stomach fills with those jitters at the mere thought of Pepper that has him like this; he shakes his head at him and drops his hands on Peter’s shoulders, moving behind him and giving him a slight shove towards the elevator. 

“That’s enough out of you, _ bug boy_.”

“Actually, spiders aren’t bugs. They’re arachnids.” Peter says this with his head back to look at Tony, who pushes him all the way to the elevator. “But you knew that. You’re trying to distract me and it won’t work.”

With a roll of his eyes, Tony ignores the accurate observations on his son’s behalf, and instead just tells him “straight home after school. No goofing off.”

“Fine. We won’t talk about it. If I’m not the first to know about this reunion, I’m going to be _ very _ upset. But yes, of course, Mr. Stark. I will be here right after school. You better be here, though.”

“You’re spending the week at the compound. Like we discussed not even 20 minutes ago. That’s it. Done deal. Rhodey really won’t let me in without you. Now, can you please go. to. school.”

“Cool.” Peter picks up his bag by the elevator and swings it over his shoulders, walking over to Tony and leaning his forehead towards him. Tony presses his lips to it in the same effortless grace they’ve been exchanging that gesture, ruffling his hair as Peter literally jumps back into the open elevator. 

The doors close with Peter waving maniacally with the hand that holds his watch at his wrist, big expression, and an open smile on his lips. Tony has to laugh at the sight when the doors close and begins heading back to the kitchen to finish his coffee. He opens the tabloid on the news as he stands by the island, The Daily Bugle tab opened for when he's ready for it as he continues to read about the fall of the Avengers and the new fugitives the world needs to be on the lookout for on every other front page of every newspaper and blog known to man. 

What a mess.

At the second sip of his coffee, he closes the Avengers link. He doesn’t need to read that right now. He lived it. So he moves on to the Daily Bugle, and there without fail, on the front page, is none other than Spider-Man. Tony shakes his head with mixed feelings about what he sees when Peter’s voice drifts from the living room. 

“Dad! Dad, come! Hurry!”

Tony, in all his reserved panic, rushes to his voice and finds Peter _ out of breath _and running towards him. 

“What? What is it, kid?”

“Pepper! Pepper's downstairs!”

“Is she okay? What happened?"

Peter, hasty and out of sorts, grabs a hold of Tony’s shoulders, with labored breathing and in panic. He begins to tell Tony in one single breath how he was on his way down and when the elevator doors opened, he saw Happy opening the car door and letting Pepper out. She caught sight of Peter as she got out of the vehicle and he panicked, closed the doors and came back up to inform Tony.

“She’s _ downstairs_!” He finishes with a slight shake of Tony's shoulders again.

“Boss," FRIDAY intervenes and Peter's eyes shoot towards the ceiling, "Ms. Potts is in the elevator on her way to the penthouse.”

Peter turns his gaze back to Tony with an “I told you! She’s _ coming_!”

“Peter, _ slow down. _ It's not Voldemort, it's just _ Pepper. _ And _ why _ are you out of _ breath_?" 

The kid stills and drops his arms as if someone shut off the frantic section in his system. With half a shrug, his breathing automatically stills and he answers with “for dramatic effect, I dunno but really, dad. She's coming." He points towards the elevator with his thumb over his shoulder, calm and casual, giving Tony whiplash.

He stares at Peter in complete disbelief at what he has before him. With nothing to say, the kid turns to the elevator and picks up on his jittery behavior. Tony knows then he can hear her coming and so, Peter turns back to him with an urgency and determination and tells him to “act natural, okay? Just—chill.”

The kid, killing Tony one action at a time, crosses his arms against his chest in an attempt to fall into a nonchalant stance. He stands very still, feet together but can't seem to agree on what his arms need to do, so he moves them around in hopes to find a proper stance in the short time he has to accomplish it. The elevator doors open with Tony’s eyes to his son, who Tony is sure woke up and doubled his dosage of Peter Pills today. 

“Peter, hey, didn’t you see me?”

“Oh, uh, hi, Pepper.” Peter gives her a small wave with no conclusion as to what to do with his hands so he puts them inside the front pocket of his jeans. 

Tony facepalms then, snapping back into the room with a plan: get the kid to school and rake it from there. 

Pepper, in jeans and in that same leather jacket Tony just loves to see her in, face bare with freckles everywhere, bites down her laughter when he finally lays eyes on her. 

“Peter. You’re going to be late. Come on, let’s go.” 

The kid looks between Tony and Pepper with the same slightly crazed look in his eye, scaring Tony at this point. Tony grabs a hold of his face then and speaks directly into his line of vision. 

“I. Will. See. You. After. School. Leave. _ Now_.” 

Peter nods with Tony’s hands still against either side of his face. 

“I can help you, dad. She really likes me,” he tries to speak, but it comes out in a muffled whisper due to Tony’s hold. But Pepper hears it and from the corner of his eye, he catches her trying to hide her smile. 

He narrows his eyes at the kid and then lets go. “Get outta here. Right now. Say sorry to Pepper for leaving her stranded downstairs.” 

“Fine, fine. You got my number. You need anything, you _ call me_.”

“I _ need _ for you to _ go_.” 

Peter gives Tony a very obvious wink, his whole face involved in the action, and then turns around, apologizes to Pepper who accepts his apology with all the amusement on her face. They watch Peter walk to the elevator as his phone rings; he gets on it as he answers the call, telling Ned he’s on his way. 

“Yeah, yeah! I got you, man. I’ve been putting out fires _ all morning _and it’s not even eight o’clock yet.”

And then he’s gone and Tony lets out a small chuckle in surprise. A morning like this can really wipe out whatever tragedy tried to drown him mere hours ago. With an exhale of a breath, he turns to Pepper, who stands poised and perfect with her bag in her hands in front of her by her knees. He tries to get his breathing under control because suddenly, it hits him: she’s here with her big, blue eyes that he cannot mistake the love that resides there. 

Suddenly breathless at the sight and understanding Peter a little better, he greets her. “Hi.”

With a small grin of her own, she responds with a “hi, Tony.”

"How—how are you? Wha—what's up?"

She bites her lower lip, suppressing her growing smile as she looks to the side, staring out to the kitchen. With a particularly deep breath, she turns to him again. 

"Let's talk."

Peter might’ve been onto something with his reaction to her being here. Internally, he feels just like he was behaving. The Starks: a complete mess when in love. 

Cards are laid on the table, all facing up. Everything is out in the open and Tony feels the possibility of spending the rest of his days with her nourish him in a way he didn't even know was possible. Not so soon. 

It's a spiritual affair when they reintroduce their souls in ways only they know how to. A renaissance, a homecoming. 

Doing their best to not get lost in each other, they resurface in their trance. If it wasn't for the literal fact of life demanding to be lived, Tony would stay in this room with her, continue watching her as she nods off, as she wakes with a smile on her lips, as she speaks to him and tells him about everything and anything and nothing at all. He could do this nonstop. Have that simple life. Pepper, Peter and him. Tony can't live to see another day if he loses her again. How he did it before, he has no idea.

Dressed and showered, they're in the kitchen, Pepper putting on her jacket as Tony turns around while walking backward in the direction of the refrigerator. He watches her walk in pace with him, bringing her hair out of her jacket and coming to a stop by the sink. 

"We can do that, but what about—Tony, I'm serious," she laughs when he moves in and steals a kiss from her in the middle of her sentence. 

He cannot wrap his head around the state of bliss he’s currently in would be so easy to access, to accept, to live in this soon. It frightens him, but he can't dwell on that too much because his mind will rob him of this moment, this moment being part of those small hours of perfect serenity. The times that still remain with him when things are falling apart. No dwelling, just soaking it all in for the time being. 

"So am I," he says, walking up to her while setting his bottled water on the counter and moving back a piece of hair that falls in her eye. “Stay with us at the compound this week and we'll talk to the kid. But you have to stay," he speaks between soft kisses to her lips as he locks his hands behind her waist. "Hmm?"

Her smile makes him swoon; it is a miracle he went so long without it. 

"Call Happy," Tony continues to insist, "tell him to bring you a change of clothes."

"I have to go to pick them out," she chuckles out, putting her arms around his neck.

"No, because that involves you leaving."

"I'll be back."

"How about," Tony quietly redirects, and kisses her again. He can't stop, he doesn't think he ever will, "we just buy you whatever you need?" And again, "like that no one has to leave?"

Pepper giggles in the middle of their kiss, completely caught up in each other to the point they miss FRIDAY’s announcement of Peter’s arrival. And then a sudden third voice interrupts them. 

"Oh, _ oh _ come _ on_. No. Why, guys why. I don't wanna see that, ugh."

Pepper puts her arms down, the blush on her cheeks intensifying by the second as she gracefully moves Tony's arms from around her waist and mouths a very amused "busted" towards him. He shrugs at her and then turns to Peter who is shaking his head as he brings his headphones out of his ears and steps into the kitchen as Tony grabs his water bottle from the counter. Peter opens the refrigerator as he goes on about his poor eyes and his brain self-combusting at the sight he came home to. His face scrunched in somewhat feigned disgust when he grabs a juice pouch from the fridge while Pepper answers his comments with a "ha ha, forget the day job. Theater. Try that."

"You're mellowed out from this morning," Tony points out as he opens the water bottle and stands in front of Peter. 

Peter smirks at Pepper and then shrugs at Tony. "Long day," he tells him while he rips the straw off the juice pouch and literally stabs the pouch with it.

"You’re all right?"

He nods at Pepper's question, the gleam in his eye present when he looks between Tony and Pepper as he begins sipping his drink. "So," he begins around his straw, "it's time to scar me, I see."

Tony opens the water bottle and without any fuss empties it on top of Peter's head; Pepper's gasp from where she stands prompts Tony to look at her and waits for the bottle to finish as he shrugs in response to her reaction. He turns back to Peter, the kid with his mouth open in shock and head down, arms spread as the water drips from his head down.

"See, now this will be your new scar. All you'll think about is how I dumped water on you instead—"

But Peter squeezes the juice pouch on Tony's face before he can finish. Like father, like son Tony doesn't react and takes it, just closing his eyes while remaining still until the spiderkid is finished squeezing all the juice out of the pouch. 

"Well, that's fair," Pepper evenly concludes. Tony opens his eyes, tasting the gross fruit punch on his lips and looks at Peter, who gifts a very smug smile.

"There. Now, I'll just have _ this _ moment, which, I must say, is way better than you dumping water all over me."

Peter begins to slowly make his way out of the kitchen while Tony stands in his spot, and the menace that is his son carefully puckers his lips up to kiss Pepper's cheek when he reaches her. Shortly after she leans down with a chuckle, she watches him walk out of the kitchen. Slow and stiff in discomfort. Pepper moves over to Tony and stands in front of him, careful not to step in the puddle of beverages the Starks have released. He loves her; how can it be so simple and so immense? 

The mirth behind her eyes as she lets go of a small giggle while kissing his fruit punch tasting lips cause for Tony to smile too. 

Pepper leaves to pack her things to meet Tony back at the tower in an hour. Once he's showered _ again _ and ready to go, he heads to Peter's room because the kid's "long day" comment didn't sit right with him. So he knocks on Peter's door and with the kid's permission, enters the room to find him packing and with Ned on speakerphone as the phone lays on the bed. 

"It’ll be okay. We won’t say anything. You can trust us for sure."

Peter shoves his Spider-Man suit in his bag as Tony stands by the bed, hands inside the front pocket of his slacks.

"Yeah, Ned, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be more careful."

"I know, I know. That's my bad. I’ll be more careful, I promise. You wanna get started on the chemistry assignment tonight?"

Tony takes a seat on the bed, looking around the room and then falling back against the mattress with his arms spread side to side, right by the phone, feet flat on the ground. Peter moves around the mattress, continuing to pack books and extra clothes into his bag.

"I can't tonight. Compound for the week, remember? Hanging out with uncle Rhodey."

"The fact that you call _ War Machine_ uncle really is the coolest thing that's ever happened to me."

Tony sits up as Peter closes his sock drawer and looks at him with a smirk over his shoulder. Tony leans over towards the phone on the bed with his eyes locked on Peter's as he speaks to Ned.

"So, what am I? Chopped liver?"

"Mr. St—Mr. Stark?"

"Yup. That's me," he answers as Peter turns around and stares at Tony with a disapproving look while he sets his bag down on the edge of the bed to zip it closed.

"Oh, sir, I—"

Peter grabs the phone and takes it off speaker, Tony laying back down on the bed with a shake of his head.

"Ned—no, Ned. Dude!"

Tony smothers his smirk behind his fist as Peter points his phone out towards him.

"Tell Ned you're kidding."

"I didn't say anything and if I did say something, I sure wasn't kidding," Tony deadpans as he looks at him while remaining still on the bed. 

"Dad."

With a roll of his eyes, Tony sits up and continues to stare at Peter and is able to see the kid’s amusement too. He shakes his head at Tony with a small grin and Tony returns it just the same, this moment between them something Tony will cherish forever.

"Kiddin', Ned."

Peter puts the phone to his ear and finishes up his call with his friend as Tony stands and puts his hands back inside the pockets of his slacks. Peter moves around him and goes into his bathroom as he asks Tony if he talked to Ryan about dropping him off at the compound from school this week. When Tony suggests Peter should just fly to the tower and have Ryan drop him from it per usual, it's like Christmas in spring-almost summer for him.

"Yup. Say, kid, you know the punishment includes revoked lab privileges, right?"

Peter slowly comes out of his bathroom and stares at Tony.

"Oh, dear _ God_. Dad. That’s..I’m hurt," is what he responds with in a whisper and clutches his chest, incredulously shaking his head as he stands with his toothbrush in hand.

Tony nods sympathetically, continuing his visual search around the room, landing on the wall where Peter’s pictures seem to be taking up more space each day. 

"So, you're taking the suit? You know you _ can't _ use that either, right?"

"Yes, but you know, in case of an emergency. Back up."

"I don't need you as back up."

"I was referring to _you_ as _ my _ back up," Peter says with a teasing smile as he rezips his bag once his toothbrush is inside.

Tony glares with a suppressed smile as Peter sticks his tongue out at him and finishes closing his bag. He moves it over to his desk and sets it on the chair, tapping it twice, satisfied with his work. Tony shakes his head at his goofy spiderkid and asks how the watch is working. Peter wiggles it in his wrist with a shrug, tells him it works just fine. With a few steps towards him, Peter stretches his wrist out for Tony to get a closer look at it. He examines it without touching and then looks at Peter as he then moves back to his desk and grabs his frames from the table. 

Tony gives him a head nod and then asks, "what happened in school today?"

Peter shrugs, his eyes moving around as if he's trying to remember as he puts on his glasses.

"Uh, there's a parent-teacher conference for this last marking period.” He puts his hands inside the pocket of his jacket and confidently goes on. “There will be no surprises, just the usual.”

“You’re great and everything you touch turns to gold,” Tony aids and Peter smirks at him with a roll of his eyes. “You’re not denying it though,” Tony continues to tease and Peter finally laughs, tapping Tony’s arm as he speaks. 

“You’re still number one, old man. Don’t fret.”

Tony nods in complete agreement, never one for false modesty, especially if he gets to goof around alongside Peter about it. He smiles at him and gives him another head nod, telling him to continue with the news.

“Um, final projects are coming in one after the other. Ned and I are partners for the majority of them. That’s cool. The darkroom in the school is the coolest thing since the Iron Man suit—"

"You want a darkroom?"

"I mean..I can just print them like I've been doing but a dark room would be awesome."

With a shrug and his eyes to the wall full of pictures behind Peter, Tony gives a semi-nod to the idea.

"I can do that."

"Birthday present?"

"Not sooner?"

Peter shakes his head and seems to suddenly remember something, walking over to his dresser. He talks while searching through the drawers. "No, no. Birthday. That's fine. It's coming anyway and I like to use the one in school."

Tony respects that, though it doesn’t surprise him. Peter has always been a bit different when it comes to gifts; he's very much like Pepper that way. Tony wants to spoil them rotten but they refuse to accept most of his big ideas. Christmas and birthdays, sometimes even on Valentine’s day, he gets his way and they have to accept all of it. 

"Tell me what else is going on," Tony muses. 

Peter shakes his head, his focused expression revealing he is still searching in his head what else to tell him. “Oh, yeah! Uh, MJ found out I was Spider-Man." 

Peter snaps his fingers in a sudden look of epiphany and with a quiet “aha!” walks towards his closet, stepping inside it and coming back out with a small box, Tony recognizing it as the place where he keeps the rest of his camera lenses. He grabs the camera that sits on the desk and changes the lens for a wider one as Tony stares at him in slight disbelief regarding how well he’s handling this identity reveal. Peter points the camera at him and snaps a few pictures of Tony. He recovers after the third one and puts his hand over the lens to get his attention.

The kid is behaving as if nothing of importance took place. As if the most ordinary thing was just mentioned. 

"I'm sorry, come again?" Tony asks, taking his hands off the camera as Peter begins scrolling through his snapshots. 

Peter looks up, pushing the glasses up his nose. "Yeah. I hyperventilated for a good 30 seconds but then it was okay, you know? I was winded the rest of the day for sure. Yeah. But it's fine. It's cool."

"Peter, you have to be more careful about this. You can't just—"

"No, I know. I know this. You're totally right and I will. I will be more careful."

"We can trust this MJ?"

"Totally. Just how we can trust Pepper? Like that."

Tony stares at Peter as the kid continues to change lenses and testing them on Tony’s face. 

"Pepper, huh. Interesting comparison. So, how's Liz?"

The kid shrugs, quite unbothered and asks Tony to step back a few steps as he answers the previous question while taking pictures. "Fine, I guess. I don't really know. I only see her or talk to her during decathlon..this is not..clearing,” Tony hears him speak to himself and soon, he’s switching the lenses again. “Move up again, sorry.” Tony does. Peter continues speaking. “After the meets and stuff, we don't really..talk. I don’t think she likes me much if we’re being honest—that’s much better," he mumbles to himself again as he looks at the shots.

"Why?” Tony is taken back by the small offense he takes in Peter’s response. Peter is a _ catch. _ A gem. Too young to date in Tony’s eyes but _ still! _ “You're a handsome spider, funny. Excellent guy. What's the deal with that?" 

Peter goes through the shots and takes off the lense, disarming the camera altogether and putting it in its case while he speaks. “She’s a senior and I’m a measly sophomore, dad. It’s really alright. I’m more than okay being one of the least likely to be crowned prom king or whatever. I don’t need the attention.” He shuts the camera case and puts it on top of his duffle bag and reminds Tony he has “good grades, _ healthy _ GPA, I’ve got friends, an awesome _best_ friend..and now MJ apparently.”

Tony ruffles Peter’s hair with a small sympathetic grin, proud of him and his focus on what’s important. 

“And this MJ..can be trusted? Pepper level trust? That’s a big statement, there, buddyboy.”

Peter nods. So does Tony, slow and suggesting. Peter rolls his eyes but the sudden hint of red in his cheeks pushes a full smile out of Tony. 

"She's cool, I guess. Yeah."

"Ahh, MJ's a _ girl _ and she's _ cool_. You know, you guess."

Peter rolls his eyes again with an actual smile on his lips and hands inside the pockets of his jacket. 

"Are you done?"

"No," Tony answers, unfaltering, "is MJ the one that caused this day to be 'long?'"

"Somewhat. That was part of it, but final projects are coming. Flash's super annoying around this time of the marking period. And I overheard Betty talking about her summer vacation and it made me miss Malibu. That’s all I thought about the whole day.”

"Me too, kid.” And Tony does. The California sunshine in his eyes, the poolside projects, conversations, memories in that backyard. Peter’s childhood is all in a house the ocean swallowed whole.

"Is this swiftie kid—he's still bothering you?"

"He doesn’t like coming in second, but that’s his problem. Not mine.”

"You got that right."

With a careless shrug, Peter blows his cheeks and Tony, without any hesitation, deflates them with his hands on either side of the kid’s face. He then places his arm around Peter’s shoulder and looks down at him, a grin on his lips. 

"You good? Anything else? Anything you wanna talk about? Need help with schoolwork? MJ's gonna be the future Mrs. Peter Stark?"

Peter drops his head back in laughter at the last one, telling Tony to slow down, but to stay around because "calculus is no joke and you swear your math is—"

"Always right," they say simultaneously. 

"I got you, kid."

"I know." 

Tony brings him in for a quick side hug, letting him go when FRIDAY tells them Pepper is downstairs with Happy. Peter turns around and grabs his bag from the chair at the announcement. 

"What's going on with Pepper, dad?"

"We'll talk when we get there, yeah?"

Peter nods as they begin to walk out of the room. "Cool."

The Starks, and that's including Pepper at Tony’s side, find Rhodey and Vision in the common room when they arrive at the compound. Peter rushes to take off his camera where it hangs from his neck and sets it aside as he calls Rhodey’s name. The kid runs to Rhodey with a smile and is received with his arms open from his uncle. Tony has to look away when Rhodey remains seated in his embrace with Peter; he almost exits the room to reel in his guilt but Pepper holds his hand and keeps him in place. Vision stands from where he sits and greets Pepper as they enter the room, Peter now sitting next to Rhodey, excitedly telling him about the braces they brought, saying all of this in almost one breath. He holds Rhodey's undivided attention as Tony walks over to them, while Pepper steps out of the room to answer an incoming call and Vision announces he's going to help Happy with the bags. 

Tony stands behind Peter with his hands in the front pocket of his slacks, amused and in the adoration Peter elicits out of him as he goes on and on about the features, the things that can be done if Rhodey isn’t too comfortable with the designs. 

"Dad, can I see your phone, please?"

Tony hands it to him without a word and Rhodey holds a smile when he looks to Tony.

"I don't know," Tony mouths and then Peter gives an exploded view of the braces from Tony's phone as he continues explaining to Rhodey how they can work inside the War Machine armor too.

"That's—yeah, man. That's innovative stuff. Your doing?"

"All dad, actually."

"Ahhh," Rhodey quietly comments with a slow nod. He looks up at Tony then at Peter. "How come you didn't help?"

"Well, actually," Peter starts and looks back at Tony, "dad got almost no sleep creating these. I had to set up schedules for him to eat and everything."

"I see," Rhodey says, staring at Peter not quite convinced. "Are you sure it had nothing to do with the fact that you were a bit busy being one of New York's number one _ vigilante_?"

The room quiets as Rhodey, with a very serious look stares between a slightly nervous Tony and panicked Peter.

"I did _not_ see that coming," Tony hears Peter mumble with his eyes to Rhodey. His head snaps back to Tony and then back to Rhodey, quietly asking Tony "did you tell him?" as his eyes refocus on Rhodey.

That causes an actual chuckle from Tony with an "I swear I didn't!" between his breaths.

"Peter, what were you _ thinking_? You could've gotten seriously hurt, kid!"

"But—"

"And _ you_, how could you _ possibly _ think it a good idea to let him go through with this? Tony—”

Tony stops nodding and agreeing with Rhodey's scolding to Peter when the colonel directs his anger towards him instead. 

"_Me_?! I—"

"Yeah, you—“

And before they know it, they're bickering about Peter's safety which they seem to be on the same page about either way. He catches how Rhodey heard Peter call him dad when he went down after he got smacked to the ground by the giant hand. They go back and forth about being on board about Peter's safety but not quite with allowing Peter to risk his life, “especially Germany! Tony—”

“Time out, Germany wasn’t my idea. He—”

It’s not until Peter stands up and whistles loud enough to get their attention that they stop. 

"Uncle Rhodey, it really—it’s not like that. Dad actually had no idea about any—"

"See?! You apologize to me right now, sour patch!"

Rhodey scowls at him while crossing his arms and Tony cannot believe he's genuinely angry at him right now. With his mouth wide open and in sincere shock, Tony stares back at him.

"Dad, don't make it worse," he whispers as he stands next to Tony, giving Rhodey an anxious grin with a small shrug. "I can kinda explain. It looks much worse than it actually is."

Right as Peter is about to begin to explain, Pepper walks into the common room with Vision carrying her bags and Happy behind them, not stopping and heading straight to the rooms. 

"Mom says hi," she says as she scans the room. Tony composes himself and tries to tell Rhodey to keep quiet with a look he hopes it works. "What's..going on? I've been gone for 2 seconds."

“Peter got us in trouble!” Tony calls out, pointing at the troublemaker, "and now Rhodey's mad at me."

"That's not—! Okay," Peter breathes out trying to stay tolerant, Tony crossing his arms and fixing his eyes on Peter then. "I would like to speak to uncle Rhodey," Peter requests to the room. Pepper, confused and staring between the three of them, nods once and begins to head out with suspicion in her eyes.

Tony sighs as he takes a seat on the spot where he feels his back is most supported and that's right next to Rhodey, who Tony can sense staring at him as he instead stares up at Peter. 

"_Alone_," the kid clarifies. Tony looks between them as they both look at him, and stands with his hands up in surrender to make himself scarce.

"Rhodey,” he calls out before he exits the space altogether.

"What, Tony?"

"I love you, okay?"

Rhodey turns to him without a single reaction in his face. 

"_So _ much, honeybear.” He tries to put on Peter’s kicked puppy eyes that work 90% of the time on both Rhodey and him. 

But it seems to have no effect this time because Rhodey raises his eyebrows completely unenthused.

"Platypus, _ PLEASE_!" Maybe a bit of feigned loss of composure can help him in this very sudden and dark time.

"I love you too, jeez, stop yelling."

"Rhodey.." Tony takes a desperate step closer to him, Peter’s long suffering sigh as he drops his forehead into his palm a reaction that always makes Tony laugh. But he can’t at the moment, no. Rhodey’s forgiveness must be acquired before anything else gets done. ”You're my heart, please don't be mad at me. It's the kid's fault, really—"

"Hey!"

Tony doesn't even look at Peter and begins to kneel down in front of Rhodey while continuing his apology as if Peter hadn't said anything in the first place.

"This time, it really isn't on me. Well..maybe a little bit."

"Oh, my—dad!"

"—Because let's face it, as soon as we piece this together, it'll eventually come back to me and well, I'm sorry in advance."

"I hate you, get out," Rhodey says and Tony sees the small tug at the side of his lips and with a big smile of his own, he stands and drops a big loud and wet kiss on Rhodey's cheek. 

"Good luck, kid," Tony exits with as he touches Peter's shoulders and rushes out of there. 

There is nothing like these moments with Rhodey. And who knows, maybe he'll get the kid to at least slow down the patrols once Tony reinstates him. Or maybe he can get him to stop altogether!

Yeah. Who is Tony kidding with that last one? 

With Pepper, Tony talks to the physical therapists so that they can coordinate proper therapy with the leg braces Tony constructed. Pepper being at his side asking the necessary questions, questions to ease his conscience when he's sleeping at night is of great help. The ever so efficient and marvelous Pepper Potts. 

By the time they finish making the rounds with the physicians that will be in charge of Rhodey's recovery, Pepper and Happy plan and get started on dinner as Rhodey and Peter continue their conversation, Tony checking with FRIDAY to see if they’re still in the common room. As he heads to the lab, he catches Vision on his way, leaning by one of the windows and staring out into the field. With an empathy that makes his chest tighten, Tony steps by him and stares at the view with him, not sharing a word. They look out for a moment before Vision's unprompted words fill the silence, telling Tony about the glitches that aren't glitches at all but sparks of an evolution Tony really wants to be around for. He listens, without a single opinion, when he mentions that he's also going to go after Wanda. 

He waits for Tony's reaction as Tony continues to stare out of the window, arms crossed against his chest and Vision's eyes on him. With a small sigh, he finally turns to him. 

"You need anything, you know where to find me," is all Tony tells him, sounding as sincere as he wants to feel. "Gonna miss you."

With a sliver of a smile on his lips, Vision gives Tony that subtle nod that has become his in all ways possible and exits the room. Tony lets his eyes rest on the very spot he just stood and then faces the field through the glass before him.

Maybe it's the roller coaster of emotions in one day or the fact that JARVIS' voice holds all possible nostalgia for Tony; maybe it's just the simple goodbye, or that it's now just Rhodey and Tony with the world on their watch. It could be that awful not-good-enough-to-stick-around-for mantle that seems to want to make a stay in Tony's mind as if he doesn't battle the darkness he knows he's capable of letting win. 

He doesn't know which of the reasons cause for him to silently let his tears fall but he loosens, but he takes off his jacket, loosens his tie and continues to stare out. It's short-lived the way he releases his sadness, but it hurts more than he expected it to. 

With his jacket on the back of the chair, he sits in the lab and decides to watch videos of Peter and Pepper, the ones before the terror turned three. He discovers it's his new method of releasing that serenity into the atmosphere, the one he wishes was permanent at times. 

After laughing and longing for Peter’s growth to slow down just enough for Tony to catch his breath, he heads back to the kitchen, stopping at a distance when he sees Peter helping Rhodey sit with Happy's assistance on one the high stool chairs, Peter climbing on the one next to him once Rhodey is settled. The braces are on his legs and Tony has to push through in order to make it to the kitchen without his heart on his throat. And it is as if they hear his thoughts from where he stands because Pepper seems to say something when she opens the refrigerator and has the room laughing with her; Peter drops his forehead on the counter with a chuckle while Happy and Rhodey laugh away amongst each other. It's a sight meant to cure him of anything other than the ease that rises up at the sight.

Peter picks up his head and catches Tony looking at them from where he is with a grin of his own and the kid's big, bright smile finishes clearing off the last bit of darkness that tried to submerge from within him. Just as fast as it came, it left. Peter, never failing to impress Tony. Always helping him without even knowing he’s doing just that. Spiderboy, though, keeps the secret to himself and crosses his eyes and sticks his tongue out in greeting, making Tony chuckle as he shakes his head and takes one step in his decision to join in on the fun.

But it's as if FRIDAY heard his thoughts this time around and decided to counterattack, making Tony question whose side is she really on. He stops short at the notification she sends to his watch, Pepper’s laugh at whatever he missed forcing him to glance up and look her way. 

“What am I looking at, FRIDAY?” He double taps the watch, the screens popping up when he fixes his eyes on the video she inaudibly plays. 

“The security cameras by New York Presbyterian picked up something on the rogue scientist that went missing a few months back, Jonathan Baxter. He approached this woman as she was entering the hospital.”

“Did you run facial recognition?” He asks as he clicks on the image, zooming in on her face. 

“You sure like to ask me that. What do I look like?” FRIDAY retorts with, ever so sassy, ever so reliable either way.

“Uh, I still don’t know. Used to picture a redhead, remember?” He distractedly confesses this with a small breath as he glances over to Pepper, and catching Peter way too focused towards Tony's direction. 

“Still thinking of someone else, I see.”

“Must be,” he answers and fixes his eyes on Peter when he sees him trying to stand up. In the same tone of voice he speaks to FRIDAY, Tony says, "stay with them. I'll be back."

It's something Tony will never be completely used to because as if Peter was standing right beside him to be able to hear him, the kid nods once and sits back upon his seat. That enhanced hearing is something he will keep in his back pocket when Peter refuses to follow directions and gets in trouble. Looking back down at the images, he stills for a moment and suddenly recognizes the similarities he can make out as FRIDAY clears the image of the woman; he makes a beeline back to the shop.

“Her name is Lilah Reilly,” FRIDAY tells him as he enters the shop, feeling as if he's not moving fast enough. 

“Tell me everything.” He cannot stop staring at the image of her while trying not to make conclusions and waits for FRIDAY to confirm his question. 

Tony heads over to the desktop, asking FRIDAY to display everything from there into the holoscreens as she finds it.

“No alias, nothing but her place of residence and employment on public records.”

“Thank you, FRIDAY.” Tony drops on the seat, running a hand down his face as the A.I plays the footage of the encounter she picked up on. He reads what she is able to dig up, seeing that Lilah lives in Queens, very close to Ned if anyone is keeping track. 

“Is there audio on this?”

“_You wanna listen to what I have to say_,” the man on the screen speaks on cue while inching closer to Lilah in his baseball cap, Tony assuming he’s trying to hide in plain sight, "_I might know the whereabouts of your sister's kid_." It's obviously meant to be between when he says it, standing close enough to Lilah to make her uncomfortable, but Tony can see the way she stiffens at the words, looks at him, and walks away without a word or a look back. 

Pepper's laugh and Peter's smile get tossed aside in his mind with this. The panic grows, almost choking him. This cannot be good. 

“That was all that I could gather when I canceled all outside noises, though it seemed that’s all he said. She walks into the hospital right after and hasn't come back out since."

“How long ago was this?”

“A few minutes ago.”

“Did you keep track of him?”

“I did, but I lost him. No security cameras past the point he walked to.”

Tony stands from his seat and asks FRIDAY to send him the location, to send a message to Happy so that he could meet him in the front.

"Tell him to be discreet about it, FRIDAY." He takes a deep breath and looks at the stilled frame of Lilah one more time. It hits him again, and this time he covers his mouth in the momentary shock because that’s why he can’t stop staring. She looks just like Mary. 

“Files uploaded, boss.”

“As soon as you get a match on anything regarding either of them, I wanna know,” he instructs, tightening his tie and releasing a shaky breath as he continues to stare. 

“You got it, boss.”

He sits straight on his chair and tries to piece together how anyone could've missed that Mary’s sister was still alive. It doesn't make any _ sense_; whether he believes Baxter's assumptions about..Lilah Reilly to be Mary's sister, Tony can't deny it when he can see the resemblance to her..To Peter.

"Christ," he anxiously breathes out, his heart racing and hating being in the dark about any of this. So sudden, so inopportune. He has to look away from the frame and stands up to exit the lab but before he can even think about his next step, he is met with Peter, a ninja in his own right. Tony stops short and swallows dry, because if he heard..

“Hey, kid.”

Peter moves out of the frame of the door, walking slowly towards Tony while he stands still, placing his hands in the pocket of his slacks to try and keep Peter from seeing the slight shake. He waits for the kid to speak, that confused look on his face when he opens his mouth and closes as if to find the right words, unsettling. He fidgets with his hands as his eyes avert to the screen and then land on Tony.

He heard. 

“Spit it out, spiderboy. What’s up?”

"Um," he begins, eyes back on the screen and then back to Tony one more time, but he doesn't continue.

“Yeah?”

“I..” Big and brown expectant eyes, so similar to his, continue to watch in silence. “I heard you and FRIDAY.”

“Heard what?”

“Everything. I was coming to see if you were okay..” Peter keeps glancing at the screens and this time, Tony looks with him to tell FRIDAY to shut everything down. 

“I’m fine,” Tony begins to say as he turns to face Peter who doesn’t look back until the screensaver appears on the screen instead, pictures of the kid taking over the view.

“Who’s Lilah Reilly? What does that guy from Oscorp have to do with her?” 

“Peter—"

“Whose sister is she? She's Mary's sister?”

“Kid—”

“What’s—where are you going with Happy? Can I—”

“_Peter,_” Tony places his hands on the kid’s shoulders as he placates, speaking softly and calmly, for both of their sanity. Peter silences at the touch and stares at Tony with fear and worry that has never suited him. Not even a little bit. “Breathe. I don’t know who she is—”

“I heard FRIDAY playback the video, though. It has to be her sister, whose other sister could she be? Especially if Oscorp’s—”

“I’m about to go find out what’s going—”

“Can I go with you? Maybe—”

“Absolutely not, kid. You stay here. Have dinner with Pepper and Rhodey, cover for me.”

Peter argues, tries to convince him and Tony is putting all his energy in not snapping at his need to always want to be put in the line of fire. This might be nothing at all, sure, but Tony knows better. It's Tony Stark, for crying out loud. He can hope all he wants but he knows better. He can understand Peter’s desperation to find out the truth; empathizing with Peter has always been easy, and Tony hates that those moments of empathy aren't with simple things like his wide curiosity for knowledge, or learning about engineering, fixing car transmissions. It's dead parents, killers, saving the world, responsibility no 14-year-old boy should have to deal with.

Tony has no idea what to expect when he attempts to get this story sorted, giving himself a bit of credit for having FRIDAY keep an eye out for Baxter after Norman practically shunned him from the face of the earth. One right, Tony. Way to go. 

Peter continues to try to convince Tony to involve him in this hands-on, but this is one he won't win.

“Not trying to ruin your life. You’re grounded anyway, are you not?”

Peter inhales a deep breath and looks aside, chewing on the inside of his lips and wearing that worried look that forces his eyebrows to knit together with the crease over his forehead. Tony gently rubs the pad of his thumb against it in silence. Peter looks at him then and says nothing. 

“If you want to help," Tony begins as he runs his hand through Peter's hair, quietly praying that the touch somehow produces a time continuum so that Peter can stay young forever, and all suffering builds him instead of breaking him because he can't wish it away. That part of life seems to be necessary. "After dinner, if I need you, you can come to the lab and be _ my _ guy in the chair, deal?”

“Really? Thanks, dad. Thank you.” His arms go around Tony then, tighter than usual. 

“Crushing me to death,” he forces out and Peter sheepishly lets go of him with an apology, understanding the kid's gratitude more than he can express. “After dinner, Stark. You understand?”

“After dinner. Got it.” 

They walk out of the shop, FRIDAY informing Tony on the earpiece that Happy is waiting for him out in front. 

“We’ll see how well Pepper handles me going without eating anything.”

“I got your back.”

Tony looks at Peter while grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair and putting it on with a lopsided grin at the sight of the kid’s loyalty. He almost forgets this isn’t a light excursion, that Peter's life might be in danger when he smiles up at Tony as they walk to the kitchen. 

"I don't know anything. That's why I'm going."

He discloses what he found out to Rhodey and Pepper as they sit side by side by the peninsula. Peter stands next to him, though he faces Tony while he speaks to the room. In the break of the silence, everyone turns to Peter while his hands are hiding inside the sleeves of his crewneck. Tony notices the uneasiness as he lowers his eyes and then locks them on Tony's when he looks back up.

"Can I please go with you?" He speaks softly, the quietness in his question equivalent to the desperation in it. A part of him wants Peter to go along just to keep an eye on him, but he doesn't know what to expect, what could happen.

He can't risk Peter's safety like that, and he expresses that to him. 

"I know you understand, kid," he softly tells him with his hand through his curls, wild and long, refusing to get a haircut. "When I'm back, some sort of answer will be in the works, alright?"

Peter looks away with a frustrated expression on his face, inhaling in a deep breath.

"What about _ your _ safety?"

Tony takes a step back at the question, startled and confused with no right to be. Because that’s always been Peter. He came back from the desert, became Iron Man and tried to protect his world meanwhile Peter was and is always trying to protect _ him _ever since.

"What about it?"

It's Rhodey that speaks next. "Like the rest of us, he wants to know if you'll call in case you need help." 

Tony turns to face Pepper and Rhodey from where they sit, Pepper beginning to stand up and walking over to Peter, standing behind him with her hands on his shoulders. They both look at him waiting for an answer, and Tony is so stunned by the sudden and blunted demand for it, he seems to lose the answer altogether

“Will you?” Pepper tries this time, her expression serious when she does. Rhodey doesn’t move his eyes from him. Neither does Peter. 

“It's not going to be that kind of party, I promise. I’m just going to introduce myself. Ask and see—”

“Let’s say you need to call. Will you call us for help?” 

Peter looks at Tony with the same intent Pepper has in her eyes, the same one Rhodey wears too as they quietly demand the right answer from him. He understands though. When has it ever been any other kind of party when things like this happen in the life of Tony stark?

“Yes. I will.”

“We’ll go find you if you don’t. Grounded or not,” Peter finishes with. Strong. 

_ Spider-Man will show up, grounded or not _is all Tony hears when he speaks. With a deep breath, he nods and promises he will call if he needs to. Rhodey doesn’t say a word after, just watches as Peter moves closer to hug Tony goodbye. Pepper remains in her spot, and it's clear she's not entirely convinced of the impromptu outing but plants a brief kiss goodbye on his lips nonetheless. 

"Watch my kid like a hawk. He likes to climb walls and cabinets for cookies. Do what he's not supposed to, that kinda thing," Tony states as he walks to Rhodey, taking his hand into his with a brief hug. 

Rhodey chuckles, shaking his head, and giving Tony a "you got it, Tones."

One more look to Peter and a ruffle of his hair, he walks out to meet Happy. Just a conversation. With a woman who may or may not be Mary’s sister. 

In the car, he goes through the files FRIDAY sent him and how he is going to approach this situation. For one, he can’t just go in looking for Lilah Reilly and expect it to be a normal and casual reaction from anyone that has eyes. He puts everything at risk walking in and looking for this woman, especially if people are looking for Peter. Tony gave Spider-Man tech, and if this man isn't bluffing about Peter's whereabouts, he certainly can’t go in there and make a big show out of it. 

So he thinks, and when he has something that could work, his mind keeps running and moving and reaching places Tony doesn’t want to land on for too long.

“Happy, how you doing? You comfortable in that suit?”

Happy turns around to look at Tony with suspicion heavy in his stare when they hit the red light. 

**Itsy Bitsy Stark, Miss. Potts, Rhodeylove:**

**Attachment: 1 image**

**Happy Hogan, ladies and gentlemen**

**Miss. Potts: why is he dressed like that?**

**Attachment: 1 voice note**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: good plan.**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: weird Happy. **

**Rhodeylove: He hates you, Tony. Know it. **

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: never seen him without a tie**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: w e i r d **

Tony chuckles at his phone while he sits in the back of the car, waiting patiently for Happy's return. It was a long ride to Queens, and making a stop to get Happy ready took longer than it should have been. So patience is a stretch but he can try. One great thing about this whole thing is that he can trust Happy to get the job done. As he tries to reread all the files that take him to dead ends, asking FRIDAY if she's got anything and coming up empty, an incoming video call from Peter interrupts his search. When the screen opens, all Tony is able to see is half of the kid’s face as his left eye is taking up majority of the screen. 

“Uh..”

“Mr. Stark,” says Peter. 

Tony raises an eyebrow at him and returns the greeting, Peter’s eye still on the only thing on display.

“Mr. Stark to you too.” 

At the sound of Tony’s words, the kid retreats from the camera and sits on the stool at a decent distance, the call coming from the desktop in the lab. 

“That’s funny, I thought I was supposed to tell you when to go down to the lab. Huh.”

“No, I know, but while mo—Pepper talks to uncle Rhodey about Spider-Man, I wanted to know if I can work on my web fluid. You know. Be ready when the punishment is lifted.”

Tony asks for clarification on what he just said. Because Pepper? Spider-Man? What? 

"I told her," Peter shrugs. "She freaked and was still freaking out after I talked to her but I have the best uncle in the world. _ They're _ talking up there now."

Tony shakes his head, holding the bridge of his nose. He can just imagine how he told Pepper the news.

"I don't even..wanna know."

"I'll tell you when you're here if she doesn't tell you first. Now, where did we land on me working on the webs?"

"No," he answers, lifting his head back up. "Grounded.”

Peter drops his head back with a groan at the sound of Tony’s response, Tony then looking at his watch to see Happy has been gone for 20 minutes, feeling like he might not make it, boxed in the car and with nothing to do, nothing to go with. All FRIDAY has given him are very small leads, almost insignificant, things he could’ve figured out had he tried hard enough with a simple internet connection and a laptop. 

“Fine. Can I go to Ned’s?” He asks this while bringing an apple into view, taking a bite and nonchalantly looking to Tony for an answer. 

Tony incredulously stares at Peter as the kid chews the bite of his apple, nonchalantly waiting for a response.

“Am I speaking in French without realizing it? Are you not.._grounded_? I thought you couldn’t go out.”

Peter stops midchew and almost looks genuinely confused, to the point that it worries Tony and annoys him all the same. 

“I can’t go out?”

Tony drops his head in a scowl glaring upward at Peter, his annoyance a lot stronger than his concern for the kid's cerebral wires. Peter notices his anger, calling for him to not be mad because "I'm just making sure, dad. Don't explode."

Attempting to remain calm, he inhales a deep breath and begins to speak to him.

“I think—I _ think _ you being grounded.._prohibits _ you from doing that. Among other recreational activities.”

Peter sits straight and sets his apple down when Tony is done talking, his expression serious when he does. He almost looks like Pepper when his face contorts that way. 

“So..I can’t go anywhere.”

“Nope.” Tony doesn’t wait to answer, shaking his head once and popping the P in his sentence for emphasis. He might flick this kid’s nose when he gets home. 

“Huh,” Peter muses, his eyes downcast as his eyebrows come together in deep thought. Tony’s jaw drops because if he’s pretending to be confused, he’s doing an astonishing job at convincing Tony he has no idea what’s going on. 

“Are you..alright? What’s going on with you? Spider amnesia?”

Peter looks up and gives small nods towards the camera, still wearing the same thoughtful look when he glances at Tony. 

“So, I can’t leave.”

“Right.” He can’t help but stare at Peter, closely, looking for a sign that he’s faking all of this, which he is, but he’s too good at it and it's making Tony question if his entire existence is real in that very moment. 

“Then..can Ned _ come _ over? I’ll be here. Not going anywhere. And technically—_technically _if I’m inside the compound, I’m not breaking any rules.”

Tony sits against the seat of the car, deadpanned at the kid’s reentry into his fake exit of reality. He watches Peter’s eyes try their best to come off as the most innocent pair of brown they can become, but Tony sees the mischievous and the very much Tony Stark trait behind the look. The hint of a smirk as he waits for Tony to answer, eyebrows raised while he waits, makes Tony wish he with him to hug him and flick his nose all at once.

“You’re a terror. A menace. An _ extortionist_.”

Peter breaks character when he snorts at Tony’s words and gifts him with his Peter Stark million dollar smile. 

“No Legos. No lab if Ned comes over. No Harry Potter and no Stark tech.”

“He’s bringing his laptop though, that alright?”

“No synching into FRIDAY. This is the compound, Peter. Not the tower. Avengers’ business is classified.”

“You’re the best, dad. Thank you. Really.”

Tony has never properly punished Peter so he has no idea if this is a good protocol in the game, no idea what being grounded in the healthiest matter is like. He’s not going to beat Peter, or damage him emotionally. He wants him to learn, to understand why he’s being punished in hopes he doesn’t do it again. But the kid is just too good and Tony has to stop pretending like he’s in charge when it comes to this part of parenthood. 

“Remind me again why you’re grounded.”

And Peter does, his demeanor changing as he guilty begins to name the reason why his punishment is taking place.

“And?”

“That was it! That’s all that happened!”

“Putting. Yourself. In. _ Danger_, kid.”

“Yes,” Peter nods as he taps his nose and agrees. “That.”

“So if Ned comes over, you also exchange that for one day of Spider..manning.”

“_What_?! That’s not fair!”

“Is it fair to have your best friend over while you’re grounded? Hmm?”

Peter stares at Tony, indignant and mouth wide open. He narrows his eyes as he speaks, shaking his head.

“Your call.”

“_Fine_,” Peter relents, dropping his head back again. “Fineeeee.”

“Not trying to ruin your life, kid. Need you to understand why I’m doing this. I don’t think you’re going to get it if you’re having a grand ol’ when you should really be thinking of the consequences of your actions.”

Peter pouts as he puts his elbow on the table and sloppily drops his chin on his palm, staring at Tony. With a shrug to the view of the kicked puppy spider, he tells Peter that he’ll inform Rhodey and Pepper about Ned coming over. 

Peter in all his grunts and disapproval of the terms and conditions thanks Tony again for letting Ned come over. 

“You’re welcome, kid.” 

Peter sits up with a sigh, looking young and returning to his apple, asking Tony what’s going on through a mouthful of the fruit. With distaste in his expression, he asks Peter how hard it is to exercise his manners, in which Peter shrugs without much interest in answering his question. Tony can’t help but stare while Peter picks up his phone and reads aloud what he’s sending to Ned. 

“Can Ryan get him, dad?” He asks, looking at Tony while holding his phone with one hand. 

“If his parents are okay with it, sure.” 

Peter turns back to his phone, typing and taking another bite of his apple. Tony continues to watch him in a sudden small state of shock, not comprehending how Peter grew right before his eyes. The kid gets a couple of phone calls while he sits with Tony on the video call. He carries the conversation with the professionalism and grace they require, exuding loaded Pepper Potts' power when he does it. Whether it’d be about his extracurriculars, end of school year projects, it’s all handled in such a way. All this time, Peter was becoming more of an adult, closer to that age where he won’t need Tony, where it will inevitably the other way around. The waves of realization come with vigor each time they crash in on this subject because he always drifts off far enough that Peter seems to always need to pull him out of it. 

“Hello? Where’d you go? I’m done.” He continues to bite into his apple.

Tony inhales a sharp breath, his chest rising as he tries to gather his thoughts and decides to kill time while he waits for Happy with Peter on the line. Because time forgives no one and Tony might not be able to handle the speed it’s moving in, but he has Peter here and he’s such wonderful company as it is. Has always been such a good friend, son, confidant in his own right. He wants to recognize these moments he has with him before they become things he's looking back on. 

“I love you, you heathen.”

Pleasantly confused, Peter gives a slight shrug of his shoulders and stops chewing the bite of his apple as his lips tug at his sides. Tony notices that every time he tells Peter those words, his eyes give off this sparkle as if he’s revved him up with new batteries. 

“Come on, dad. Me? This master extortionist?”

“Unfortunately.”

With a full smile, Peter returns the sentiment and Tony feels the atmosphere shifting into a moment he can’t afford to experience right now, not when he’s in his car trying to protect his kid’s life, at a complete loss for words. 

“So, question there, spiderboy. A few actually.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Yeah, an ‘uh-oh’ is in order. First: can I know _ exactly _ how you ended up in Germany?”

“I’m not telling you!” Peter chuckles out, Tony knowing it was a long shot anyway, “you’ll just adjust whatever I tell you and then BAM! I won’t be able to do it again.”

“Wha—_Peter_.”

“Only if necessary! Then and only then, will I sneak into an aircraft to give you the help you refuse to admit I can provide.” 

With a roll of his eyes, Tony moves to his next question and asks Peter to tell him about Liz but the kid remains indifferent about the question. There isn’t any hazed look when he mentions her name, no excessive amount of compliments. All he tells Tony is that Liz just doesn’t talk much to him outside of decathlon meets, “maybe she’s preparing for college, I don’t know. MJ says she’s been focused on that after she was voted the captain of the decathlon team.” 

“MJ stands for what again?”

“Michelle Jones. She’s really cool, dad. You’d like her,” he tells Tony, and there’s that gleam in his eyes that appears at the sound of Michelle’s name, “Pepper says we’ll have to give you plenty of time before you can be okay with the idea of a girl coming over—” 

“As always, Pepper is correct. You and I are gonna talk about this when I get there.”

“Oh, oh no. Please. No need, dad. We’re just friends—”

“Ah, ah, ah. When I get there. Now, slothboy. Calculus. How we doin’ with that? Still need me?”

“You’re the worst, but yes, please.” The kid smiles closed lipped midchew of his apple, finishing it as Tony nods and agrees to tackle that too when he gets back to the compound. 

Peter gives him a thumbs up, tossing the remainders of his snack to what Tony hopes is the bin beside him. He stands from his seat and FRIDAY expands the view from the desktop as needed when Peter jumps high enough to stick to the ceiling and then slowly hangs from a single web. Tony just sighs, trying to adjust to the fact that this is his reality. Forever. Holding the bridge of his nose in response to Peter yet again, the kid talks about his crush for Liz fading without him being aware of it taking place, then something about never being able to see her outside of school, her dad... 

“I’m not even gonna pretend I’m listening to you, Pete,” he interrupts, still not looking at the camera. 

“What do you mean!”

Tony makes an unintelligent sound and with his hands points to the screen to give him an idea as to the abnormality taking place.

“I have all this..spider-built in energy that I can’t release! I have to get it out!” Peter tells him, light and unbothered. 

“Dear God,” Tony exclaims under his breath and looks at Peter casually typing away again with one hand on the web and the other on the phone. “You _ just _ finished eating. Doesn’t that—get down from there. Get down. I thought you weren’t supposed to be using your tech.”

Peter drops with a soft thud and a grimace in Tony’s direction, tilting his head slightly to the side. He yanks the web from the ceiling and balls it up in his hand, sticky and messy. 

“Pete, I feel my eye twitching just watching you. Get rid of—I don’t understand. Spiders don’t behave that way. Put the shooters back.”

“Oh, come on, I _ need _ the webs. I’m not even using them in public, I _ swear_. It’s a precaution. I feel better with them on.” 

“Boss, incoming call from Secretary of State, Th—” But as FRIDAY interrupts, so does Tony. He just isn’t a fan of that name being said from his directory. 

“Hold the call FRIDAY. Uh, Pete—”

“Yeah, I heard. Be nice and keep me posted on the..mission.”

“I’ll keep you posted. I don’t know about the other thing, but definitely will keep you posted.”

With a shake of his head, the kid smirks his way, telling Tony to call him if he needs anything and thanking him again for letting Ned come over, “and for letting me keep the webs. Love youuuuuu.”

“Yeah, yeah. Love you most. End call.”

The last image of Peter is his big put-on smile where all his teeth show, up close to the camera and Tony is so appreciative of the calm and warmth the kid brought him in that moment he thought he was going to burst out of the vehicle and die of anticipation. 

“Stark,” Ross greets, as Tony sits back while Ross’ voice takes over the sound system, much less pleasant, much less welcomed than Peter’s was just a few moments ago.

“Tony, we have a problem,” and a problem it must be if he’s referring to him as Tony, “there’s been a break-in at the—”

“Uh, please hold.” 

“No,” Ross begins to warn, “don’t—” But on hold he goes. 

The relief that takes over confuses Tony, but then he admits to himself in that same second he’s glad Rogers got them out of there. It just didn’t seem...necessary to take such measures in the imprisonment. Rogers got them out. That’s good, he assumes. Now they’re official criminals. Outlaws and fugitives. No power move can appease that. It’s done. 

“Yes, Mr. Ross, _ sir_,” he starts in when he takes him off hold. He reminds himself of Peter when he addresses Tony like so in his playful ways, “the best I can do is keep an eye out, but it seems this is completely out of my control. Good day.”

“Stark—”

“End call, FRI.”

Dropping his head back against the headrest of the seat, he shuts his eyes and continues to take calming breaths. In all honesty, that is exactly what Tony plans on doing either way: keep an eye out. He can’t focus on people that don’t want to be found just yet, and even with the inkling that Vision had a part in that escape, he decides to solve the tasks at hand and takes it one ridiculous issue at a time. The knock on the glass beside him startles him as he sits straight and sees Happy’s face on the tinted window. 

He watches Happy walk around the car and get inside it. Tony sits up and asks for details as soon as he steps foot is in the door and Happy begins to take off this disguise. Serious but satisfied, he turns around to face Tony. 

“When she takes her ten minute break, she said she’ll give you two.”

“That’s enough. That’s all I need. When is that?”

“In two and a half hours.”

Tony nods, grabbing his phone and glancing at the background picture, the one of Tony snoozing while watching a movie and Pepper and Peter making faces as Pepper wears his glasses and the two of them face the camera with Tony out cold behind them. He looks out the window and then has an idea.

“I’m hungry,” he starts and faces Happy with his next question. “You hungry? Let’s eat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanna dedicate this chapter to the sweet anon on Tumblr that always messages me after they are done reading the chapters, and how much they enjoy this story! I hope you liked this one. 
> 
> And to all of YOU!!!! Thank you thank you thank you for coming back! Talk to me in the comments. I have missed you all freaking out with me over the Stark boys! 
> 
> Talk to you very soon<3000
> 
> Go be happy.


	13. Opening Act

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It always starts like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS. 
> 
> I’m sorry this is literally a week behind. 
> 
> Please, don’t hate me lol though thank you for coming back! Ahhh thank you! For! Coming! Back!
> 
> This is, as explained before, super lengthy and not much takes place in my opinion but! Peter and Tony have their moments and I honestly can live with just that. 
> 
> But alas, for the sake of plot we must carry on. 
> 
> Enjoy!

One thing Tony was not expecting when he told Happy to make his way to Mr. Delmar’s deli was him telling Tony he knows about Peter’s Hannah Montana lifestyle. He figured Happy would piece it all together eventually, especially after he had to escort Peter out of the airport from Germany; he just didn’t expect him to keep it to himself for as long as he did. All Tony knows is that _ he’s _ kept Peter’s secret and the people that _ do _ know are people Tony and Peter can wholeheartedly trust. No fuss, no muss. It's Happy. So as he drives to the deli, Tony already familiar with his surroundings since Ned doesn’t live too far from where they are, the street art on some of the walls catch his attention. 

The art is of Peter—well, Spider-Man in his new suit, the mixture of panic and pride fighting for a sacred place inside of Tony at the sight of it. 

“Spidey’s loved, huh,” Happy comments while looking for parking. 

Tony stares at it, the entire wall involuntary becoming a mural space for Spider-Man in that perfect crouch he’s seen Peter do: his one leg stretched out while one of his hands steadies him as the other seems ready for action. It’s quite a sight and it reminds him of the ones around Manhattan after the Battle of New York. Just like Peter did for him at the time, Tony snaps a picture of it. Pride wins the fight. 

“The people like him, Tony.” 

Tony’s eyes are focused on the screen of his phone, looking at what he just captured. 

“He’s not half bad,” he quietly says and finds Peter’s contact information to send him a message.

**Itsy Bitsy Stark **

**Going to Delmar’s for dinner.**

**What is it you always get?**

**People talk about GSWs being unbearably painful**

**But idk**

**Nothing can compare to this blatant betrayal.**

**Kid..What?**

**You’re going WITHOUT ME**

**Oh. **

**Yeah. **

**So. What am I getting?**

**???????????**

**No. **

**No?**

**I can’t believe you**

**What happened to 'no man left behind?" **

**I’m appalled**

**If you tell me, I might get you one. **

**#5, with pickles, toasted really flat**

**It’ll be a complete experience with pickles **

**Trust me**

**Strawberrykiwi Snapple if you need a drink**

**I do mine with a can of coke but I know you**

**CAN YOU GET ME GUMMIES PLS?!**

Tony smiles down at his phone as Happy mumbles to himself about never finding parking around here. They go around for a bit until he finds a spot close enough to his destination. Looking back at Tony without a single word, Tony returns the gesture as he raises his eyebrows in question. 

“You want a deli sandwich.”

“Yes.”

“From Queens.”

“Best sandwiches in Queens, so I’ve heard.”

“From a _ 14-year-old_.”

“It would seem so. Why do you hate fun? This is fun, something new! I don’t—I don’t get it.”

“And you plan on eating in the car,” Happy goes on as if Tony hadn’t spoken. 

Tony looks to the side and out the window with a small indifferent shrug and then back at him with an answer. 

“Sure.”

Finally, Happy stares, studying him and then without further probing, asks Tony what he wants him to get. 

“Just sent it to you. Get whatever you want.”

When he returns with the goods in hand, he tells Tony that Mr. Delmar recognized him as Tony Stark's bodyguard and clued in that the sandwich was for Spider-Man and sends his regards to him.

“It seems you got Peter’s exact order.”

Tony doesn’t know how to take that piece of information just yet, but Happy sets the food in the back, next to Tony’s seat and Tony then proceeds to snap a picture of the bag beside him and sends it to Peter. 

**Itsy Bitsy Stark **

**You’ve saved my life**

**You’ve saved Pepper’s life**

**You’ve saved the world**

**And yet**

**I have never been prouder. **

  
  


Happy parks on the last level of the parking garage when they arrive back at the hospital, taking the last spot as it’s the most deserted on the side they are on. Proactive as he can be, Tony asks FRIDAY to check for cameras because he doesn’t want any leaks of Tony's presence at the same place where Jonathan Baxter was also located talking to the same person Tony is about to speak to. He doesn't want to risk Baxter finding out and somehow connecting dots and figuring everything out. Stepping out of the car, he grabs his napkins and the plastic bag from the backseat where Happy placed it and sets everything on top of the trunk of the vehicle, glasses on and in complete silence as he does another scan around the place with them. Happy steps out of the car as well and stands by the driver's side with the car door open, looking to Tony while he opens the bag and sets up his eating station, ready to dig in. When he takes the first bite of his sandwich, Happy speaks.

“This must be a lot more serious than you lead on,” he discloses, closing the car door with his eyes on Tony. 

Tony finishes his first bite, so pleased with how good it actually tastes. He wipes the corners of his mouth with his napkin as Happy approaches him, the expression in his eyes less relaxed and his concern slowly taking over his whole face. 

“Why do you say that?”

“You’re eating a sandwich from a _ deli_, standing by the trunk of your car eating said dish, at the full disposal of this nurse lady’s time frame.”

“So?” Tony questions around a mouthful of his second bite. 

Happy’s face changes, brief but genuine, with a small chuckle.

“What?” Tony asks again, opening his Snapple bottle and taking a sip. Wow, Peter’s taste buds can be so extreme but they did well on this one. 

“Or maybe it’s just the Peter in you.”

“Um,” Tony argues, wiping his mouth again and raising his finger as he waits to finish chewing his mouthful, “the _ Peter _ in _ me_?”

“Oh, right. All of this—the standing up when he’s eating, the talking with a mouthful is the Tony Stark in _ him_.”

Tony points his finger at Happy, about to tell him he’s keeping tabs on all of these little comments. But he can’t stop eating his sandwich. It just feels wrong to do so; it tastes so good. Happy though, takes advantage of Tony’s pose without a single word coming out of him, takes out his phone and snaps a picture of Tony Stark eating one of the best sandwiches he’s had while standing by the trunk of his car. 

“What are you doing?”

“Sending this to the kid.”

Tony rolls his eyes and focuses on finishing his new favorite delicacy. 

  
  


It’s 25 minutes later, after Happy sets the hand sanitizer and lotion on the back seat of the car for Tony to take whenever he’s ready, that he goes to get Lilah Reilly, leaving Tony with his anticipation while standing outside and moving whichever way he can to avoid being seen when cars pass by. There aren’t as many but he can’t risk being recognized right now. 

“FRIDAY, any cameras you can access that could—”

“It’s all secured, boss.”

Tony paces as he breathes a “thank you” to her. And then he sees Happy approaching with a woman in scrubs close behind him. He clicks on the side of the glasses to get facial recognition, even though he knows who it is as all the information he already familiarized himself with displays on the screens. 

Happy steps aside when they reach a proper distance and Lilah Reilly, with Mary’s eyes and the same solemn look behind them, stands before Tony. 

“What the f..Huh, it’s really Tony Stark,” she breathes out in very moderate awe, seeming to immediately adjust to who stands before her.

Tony, with his best smile and his selective manners for the public, extends his hand for her to take, trying to shake off the mild shock he is feeling because the more he stares, the more he sees Peter in there. All the kid got from him was his recklessness and his eyes. It is clear when he looks at Lilah that the Parker blood runs deep in Peter. A kid that could’ve been Peter Parker instead of Stark had Mary’s life taken a different route after that night. That one night. 

Tony apologizes for the conditions he has to meet her in, shaking her hand as she continues to stare at him. 

“Yeah, what’s this about?”

“Uh, would you mind—” he points to the car, “it’s the safest way.”

Lilah looks to Tony and then to Happy, who gives her a subtle nod. With that, she looks at Tony again and not taking his eyes off him, she steps inside the vehicle when Tony opens the door for her. He inhales a deep breath before he walks around and also steps inside, Happy standing outside on watch. 

Tony tries to be tactful which has never been his forte, but he has to get as much information on the things that seem to want to threaten Peter’s safety. He stares at her, intently because he can’t help but notice the similarities between all three of them.

Lilah looks left and right, unbothered and confused as her eyebrows go up to her hairline with expectancy in her gaze. 

“What’s with the staring?”

“I don’t..it’s just that you look like someone I knew.”

At Tony’s answer, Lilah straightens and her silence is heavy, Tony feeling it, sensing she knows who that someone might be because her face hardens and Tony tries to stay on the vein. It’s his son. He has to probe until he’s either kicked out of his own car or punched in the face. 

“Her name was Mary Parker.” Tony tries his luck and immediately sees the recognition in her eyes when he says the name, so he continues to push. “Do you know who she is?”

“Nope,” she answers without missing a beat and puts a piece of her hair behind her ear; she can’t seem to be able to hide how upset she is at the question.

“Boss, Peter has uploaded something from Ned Leeds’ server for you. It looks like they were able to access information from Oscorp about Lilah Reilly.”

And when Tony hears FRIDAY on the earpiece mention all those nouns and verbs in one sentence, he has to force himself to not cut this meeting short and head home to give Peter an earful. He could’ve done that, he could’ve hacked into Oscorp but the risk of it being traced back was too much on Tony’s mind, even if he can assure it to be untraceable. He has no idea what kind of artillery Baxter is moving around with. It’s too risky, and here's Peter betting it all on one card.

“From the pictures they uploaded, Lilah Reilly's name is actually May Parker."

That throws Tony off his inner monologue. He has to focus on what he's doing right now because this isn’t making any sense. So he taps his watch and tells FRIDAY to hold on. 

“What do you need from me, Mr. Stark?”

“Mary—”

“I told you I don’t know who she is.”

“This guy,” Tony quips just as fast as she does, and expands the picture he pulls up from his watch. “He approached you today, just before your shift and mentioned the possibility of Mary’s kid being alive. I need to know if he told you anything else. Was that your first time seeing him? Do you know who _ he _is?”

“No, I don't know him either, and quite frankly—” 

But Tony stops her before she can exit the car. 

“That’s okay. That’s fine. Fine. What about May Parker? Are you familiar with her then?”

At the sound of the change of name, she stills and her eyes automatically water as she stares at Tony, offended and no longer hiding her pain. But he had to. His time is running short. 

“Why..How..do you know that name?” She slowly whispers, but before he can answer, she is scurrying for the door again and steps out of the car. Tony hurriedly walks out after her, following behind. 

“You're May Parker, aren't you? Mary's sister?”

“I don’t want anything to do with this.” When she turns around, she speaks between her teeth, her anger and pain all Tony sees when her eyes try to pierce right through him. He doesn't say anything because that sort of hurt he is very familiar with and before he can think of something to tell her, she turns around and starts to walk away again. 

“It’s my son. That guy is looking for him, the one that approached you today." 

Lilah stops walking and slowly turns around to face him again, keeping her distance.

“Please.” 

“Why..do you need _ my _ help? What can I _ possibly _ do? You're Iron Man, Mr. Selfish turned Selfless, Superhero of the world. The hell are you seeking _ me _out for?”

Tony wishes he’d keep what he’s about to say next between the people that know. The people that have kept this out of the media’s hands. Lilah doesn’t give him any choice in the matter, so he asks FRIDAY to secure the perimeter one more time for good measure. With his heart in his throat, and trusting that this works, he tells her the one thing that he hopes gets her to at least reconsider helping him. 

“He’s Mary’s son.”

  
  


In the car, Tony gets Peter and Ned on the phone as soon as Happy pulls out of the parking lot of the hospital. He's rattled and angry: angry at them, at himself, at Lilah, at Oscorp for taking Mary because Tony isn’t stupid, and it’s becoming clearer by the minute that they killed her. This kind of stress becomes intolerable because he doesn't know what to do and Peter just doesn’t _ listen_. Tony doesn’t care if today is MJ’s last day at her internship with Oscorp and was able to get the codes they needed to tap into the files under Mary’s name. It doesn’t matter that it helped because for all Peter knows, it made things worse. 

“You’re putting not only yourself in danger, but MJ and Ned and everyone around you, do you understand?" Tony doesn't raise his voice, his anger taking dominion of him as he talks to the kid. "It was one thing I asked of you: wait for me to ask for your help. _ One thing. _ And you go and do the _ one _ thing I told you _ not _to do, Peter."

There’s a brief silence between them for a moment, but Peter breaks it, weighted and genuine with regret. 

“I’m _ sorry, okay_? And it’s not Ned’s fault. Don’t be mad at him—”

“I’m not mad at Ned," Tony answers immediately, "I’m not. _ You’re _ the one disobeying me, Peter!”

Tony hears Peter’s frustrated sigh on the other line at the sound of Tony's voice rising towards the end of his sentence. He tries to come back down from it and asks Peter if Rhodey and Pepper know what he’s up to. 

“No. Please, don’t—don’t tell. I’m done. I promise. Ned and I are going to shut the laptop and head upstairs and wait for you. I promise.”

“We’ll talk when I get there. Just.._ please_, kid. Let _ me _ handle this. You worry about calculus and college, it's never too early to start thinking about college.”

Peter groans on the other line. “I don’t need to go to college, I wanna help you.”

Tony might spontaneously catch on fire. 

“We’ll talk when I get there.”

“Okay.” Peter’s voice is small when he answers and Tony shuts his eyes, dropping his head back against the headrest. That voice always has the ability to make him feel a lot crappier than he cares to admit. Even if the outburst is completely justified. 

With a deep breath, Tony asks FRIDAY to put him on speaker so that he can be sure Ned is listening to this part of the conversation. 

“Go hang out with Rhodey. Have Ned freak out over War Machine breathing his same air. Ned, you listening?" Calling him out, he sits back up and opens his eyes..

"Y—yes, Mr. Stark."

"If you listen to Peter again about any of this, I’m sending you both to juvie for breaking and entering into the lab. I'll separate you two so fast, send you to different states. Am I being clear?”

Simultaneously, Ned and Peter respond with “crystal.”

“Good. Go. FRIDAY, take me off.” 

She does. 

“I’ll be there soon,” he says and drops his head back again.

“Alright.”

A pause.

“I really didn’t mean to..” Peter begins, "I just want to help."

“I understand, I do but there are other ways you can help that don't require a potential lawsuit from Oscorp or having them figure out who you are. You got that?"

“I got it. How long before you're here?"

"An hour."

"Okay. See you then. Love you, dad.”

“Love you most, kid. End call.”

Taking in a deep breath, Happy drives in silence, not a single comment out of him. Tony is deep in his thoughts the entire way to the compound. 

  
  


When Tony walks into the common room, Peter is slouching on the couch, laughing hysterically while kicking his legs with Rhodey mid-story, and glee in his face as he tries to hide his smile. Pepper is covering her face, hiding her amusement while Ned lays on the ground with Peter’s camera on his stomach, his hands secured around it. He is also cackling away. Peter turns his eyes to the entrance of the room and as soon as he sees Tony, he sits up and calms down from his fits of giggles, wearing a much more reserved smile. Tony walks over to him and unceremoniously drops a kiss to his forehead as Ned hurries to sit up and leans against the couch by Peter’s feet. 

“Where do you want me to put this, boss?”

At the sound of Happy’s question, Tony turns around and looks at Peter, whose eyes widen at the sight of the plastic bag in Happy’s hand. The kid looks between Happy and Tony, and then inhales a sharp breath and holds it. Tony makes his way to an empty seat and nods towards Peter when the kid looks to him again with his cheeks blown while tapping his lap with his hands, filled with anticipation. 

“Go ahead, Pete.”

“Really flat?” The kid breathes out and scrunches his face as if to wait for the blow.

“And gummies,” Tony supplies as sits on the open space across from Rhodey and Pepper. She sits with her feet under her next to the colonel, as both of them shake their heads at the shenanigans with a hint of a smile on their faces. 

Peter hurries off the couch and makes a beeline towards Happy, taking the small plastic bag from him. 

“Kitchen, Stark and clean up after yourself.”

“Thank you! Ned,” Peter gestures with a nod of his head towards the exit of the room and with that, Ned stands and follows Peter out in the direction of the kitchen. Tony hears them in the distance, Peter offering half his sandwich and Ned rejecting it because “pickles?”

“Of course, dude.”

“No, thank you.” 

Tony sits back with a small sigh, slouching just like Peter was but his feet firmly on the ground. Pepper stands from where she sits and moves over to him, Peter’s and Ned’s laughter distant but present as he covers his eyes with his palm. 

“How did it go?” Pepper quietly asks as he feels her hands carding gently through his hair. 

With his eyes closed, still somewhat stunned with the turn of events, Tony removes his palm from his face and says nothing in return. He puts his hand back over his eyes. 

“Did you see her?” Rhodey questions in at his silence. 

Tony just shakes his head in worry because now Lilah knows about Peter’s existence and he apparently woke old resentment between her and Mary. Now she has vital information, and Tony might be internally freaking out, while Peter now knowing who she is. It's just a matter of time before he takes this into his own hands, no matter how many restrictions and warnings he gives the kid. 

“No?”

“Yes,” he clarifies and looks at Rhodey. “I saw her but..”

“What? What is it?”

Tony sits up, puts his head down and stays silent for another moment, feeling the headache coming in fast and furious. He looks at Happy who is now in the room and standing at a distance with his arms crossed, a mild look of concern on his face. 

“For one, her name is _ not _Lilah. I don’t know...how or what took place but her name isn’t Lilah. It’s May." Rhodey and Pepper continue to look at him, waiting for the ball to drop as Tony finishes speaking with, "Parker."

“Wait..What?”

“Right,” Tony brings his shoulders up towards his neck, tired and almost aloof all the same, acknowledging Rhodey’s confusion, “and May or Lilah, whoever she is, wants nothing to do with Mary. She says she doesn’t know anything, wants nothing to do _ with _ anything that has to do with her, so..” He shrugs again, so _ tired_. 

Tony stands from his seat with a sigh and faces the entrance of the common room, his back to Pepper and Rhodey who don't say anything on the matter. He quietly puts his hands inside the front pockets of his slacks and stares straight ahead, into nothing, thinking about Peter, always thinking about Peter. He doesn't hear his laughter anymore, probably too busy eating his sandwich. 

“She wanted nothing to do with Mary, so she wants nothing to do with the kid.”

  
  


After Peter is done eating and splitting his gummies with Ned, Tony reiterates the words he shared with them on the phone earlier. Ned and Peter sit at the foot of Peter’s bed as Tony sits in front of them on the rolling chair from the desk, the room's set up similar to Peter’s back at the tower. 

“If it helps, Mr. Stark, MJ was there to stop the animal testing so asking her to help us was really no problem.”

“No, Ned. It doesn’t help. That’s not the point. How do you know they weren’t keeping tabs on MJ? That they hadn’t figured out she’s entering restricted sections within their company? You don’t know what these people are capable of. You have to listen to me and do as I say.”

Ned nods, appearing to be entirely too sorry and somewhat scared. Peter lowers his eyes as he fidgets with his hands without sharing a word. 

“Are we clear on that?”

“Yes, sir.” They speak in unison and look up at Tony. 

“What else did you find?”

That’s when they look at each other and remain silent. He might not be able to know what they're saying with just a look, but Tony knows they're certainly communicating. So he waits for them to get their story straight because he knows there's more to it. 

“Time's up. Talk.”

Ned turns to Tony and Peter looks at his friend, alarmed and nervous. Ned begins to explain to Tony MJ found multiple files within Mary's and took pictures of them. That's where May's was located, along with Ben Parker, Richard Parker, and Curt Connors. Peter remains silent while Ned stands up and grabs his laptop from the bed and opens it, showing Tony what MJ sent them. They're short, one page each but MJ knew what she was doing because there, with each picture from each file, is a bolded word in red below them.

Mary's reads "deceased," along with the rest of them but Lilah's. Her file has her picture, undeniably the woman he met with today, but instead of Lilah Reilly, it reads May Parker. Younger, much happier, rested even. He can tell in her eyes. He takes the laptop from Ned while he’s mid-sentence, going on about that Pixar movie, _ The Incredibles _ but Tony isn't listening to him. Not entirely. Ned quiets when Tony takes his device without permission though. His eyes remain on the screen as he puts the laptop on his lap and returns to the rest of the files one more time.

Mary Parker, dead. 

May Parker, missing. 

Richard Parker, dead.

Ben Parker, dead. 

Curtis Connors, dead. 

“It’s weird, right?” Ned's voice comes in again after a while of silence, "but then when you read the paperwork, it tells you. The sisters married the Parker brothers. That's why they're all Parkers, see? Except obviously for Dr. Connors."

Ned's hand blocks the view of the screen as his fingers point to confirm the things he's telling Tony. He doesn't know why he's so disturbed by this. Or maybe he does, but one thing is for sure: Oscorp can't know these were duplicated and that they landed in Tony's hands.

Another thing that he is certain of is that he wants to throw up. He asks FRIDAY to access Ned’s laptop and send him all to Tony's archives and to print a copy of each. He asks her to delete them off Ned’s computer and make sure it cannot be traced back to him, even if it's just a picture from a phone. Before Ned can protest, Peter stops him and shakes his head in silence. It stops Ned from attempting to interrupt Tony’s decisions being made so he lets him do as he tells FRIDAY to do. He returns Ned his device and stands up from his chair. 

“Listen to me. I need you both to steer clear from this. Tell MJ to wipe out her phone. I'll give her a new one, but to wipe it."

They nod. 

“Peter. You understand?”

“We'll do as you say. No hacking, no Oscorp. I promise.”

Tony continues to look his way as if he could summon more than a promise out of Peter with the ability to lock him up until all of this goes away without a single repercussion. It seems that’s the only solution he can come up with to keep him safe, one that doesn't work. Peter stares back also and Tony begs with his eyes for him to leave it alone. 

“No hacking, no Oscorp.”

Tony exhales a shaky breath and places his hand atop Peter’s head. The kid gives him a small grin, looking so young as Tony then puts his fist out for Ned to bump his own fist against it.

"Do as I say," Tony repeats when Ned meets him halfway. He looks between them again as they nod and exits the room.

“And she found this at Oscorp?”

Tony nods from where he sits, screens open before him, though his eyes are on the printouts on the table. 

“You have to show her, Tony. She has to know about this.” Pepper looks at him as she picks up one of the print outs again and keeps her eyes on the paper she holds while Tony stares at the one left on the table. 

Mary’s.

“The Parker brothers married the Fitzgerald sisters. Three of them are dead. May changed her name, but by the looks of it they haven't picked up on that yet.” Rhodey keeps going between the rest of the printouts in his hands as he speaks with his eyes to them. “She knows they’ve been looking for her. She has to. Why would she change her name? And why is Connors in this pile under Mary's file?" Rhodey looks at Tony then. 

"Richard died in the field," Pepper says, looking at Tony, telling Rhodey she remembers Tony's lawyer telling her that while they were trying to find another guardian for Peter. "He didn't find anything about a sister, dead or missing."

Pepper sits down next to Rhodey with her eyebrows together in confusion as she looks over what he has in his hands. He hands the paperwork to her with his eyes to Tony and Tony doesn’t want to react to any of this. He wants to respond. Reacting has always been such big part of his nature, and even though he’s calmed his impulsive nature down, it wakes up within him now. Strong and demanding. He wants to locate Lilah. Wants to show her the images and explain to her that this isn’t about a grudge she holds over her sister. Wants to know why the change of name. Wants to ask her if she knows she’s being sought after. If she did know, would she help solve the mysteries that rise up with her search? Put in the rest of the puzzle pieces? Or would she leave and disappear again? Does she know the people looking for her are not far? That they might have already found her? 

Tony’s head splits as he goes through all the possible scenarios that could take place if this goes south, while Pepper and Rhodey converse among themselves, their voices distant while Tony's mind travels. 

“Excuse me?”

At the sound of Ned’s voice, Tony looks at him and alarmed and almost choking, immediately sits up. He looks nervous even as Peter stands behind him in the same manner. Tony looks between them and then Peter nudges Ned forward. 

“M—Mr. Stark, Ms. Potts..War Machine, sir..I was wondering if I could..stay over?”

Pepper looks at Tony, then to Rhodey and begins to speak as Tony sits back against the couch and breathes easy. He wasn’t expecting something as simple and doable as a sleepover, and for that, he’ll allow it. 

“I thought you already were? Tony?” 

Tony gives the room a thumbs up at the sound of Pepper’s question, with his palm over his eyes. 

“Can he stay for the weekend?” 

“If he has permission, sure. Have your parents call me or Pepper, Ned. No parents, no sleepover,” Tony states in the same posture, “I kinda want them to agree so that I can keep an eye on you two. It works out for everyone.”

Peter tells Tony that Ned asked his parents before Tony even found out about Ned coming over, because of course. Peter Stark would have that sort of thing worked out. With another thumbs up, Ned and Peter thank them while and they head out of the common room with Pepper demanding a call from a parent either way. Tony goes back in his headspace as he hears the boys’ whispers and indistinct quiet and rushed conversation as they walk away once they agree with Pepper's term. 

“What are we going to do about this?"

“Well, we can’t just run up to Norman Osborn demanding answers, even if they have this creepy file in their possession. Our cover and Peter’s identity would be blown and all hell would break loose,” Rhodey answers to Pepper's question. 

“And Jonathan Baxter isn’t working for them, you think? Are we sure about that?”

“We’re not sure about anything," Tony contributes, slow and contained because he wants to snap so bad. But he doesn't move from his position as he continues on, "and I’m _ this _ close to suiting up and blowing up the entire Oscorp tower in order to find answers. But I can’t do that. I cannot..this has to be taken care of delicately. I..Peter’s safety is at risk.” 

So frustrated. He is able to gather all the information he can and still not able to do much because of Peter, and now his friends are in the middle of all of this. 

“We'll get to the bottom of this, Tones. Peter's going to be fine.”

But the silence is so loud, Tony hears it taunting him clear as day. 

  
  


“Tony.”

Pepper’s voice rings through his ears as he reads Cho’s message about coming in Wednesday afternoon to study Peter’s biology, the day before Pepper flies to California. With his back against the headboard of the bed, he nods towards Pepper without taking his eyes off the screen before him, closing the Helen Cho chat and asking FRIDAY to open the Lilah Reilly files along with Jonathan Baxter's from public records again. 

“Mr. Stark.” 

Tony lifts his head and looks at her this time as she walks over to the mattress and climbs on it, sitting next to him. 

“Tell me,” she quietly urges and Tony looks at her, debating whether or not to even begin to speak of what his mind is building up. 

He was able to distract himself after Rhodey practically forced him to help Peter with his calculus homework and talk about MJ and Pepper afterward. It was good. Fun, even. Peter has a gift, and that is he can always get a laugh out of Tony no matter what’s going on around them. He can do that at least once. So they distracted themselves with homework and girls while Ned reminded Tony that he's the best friend the kid could've ever made, and also an equally hilarious and a bright young man. They didn't speak about Oscorp or any of what took place this afternoon, and Rhodey later called the boys for snacks and video game match that Peter had to watch instead of play because grounded means grounded. Even if Ned is with him. Pepper had also confirmed Ned's stay at the compound with his parents and it was working, Tony was calmed a lot more than he was before that. It worked until it didn't. 

Because the moment he could, he was back in the lab, searching, trying to find anything that could lead him to Jonathan Baxter without having to tamper with Oscorp security walls. But nothing. So now he sits on his bed, staring at the documents he could recite back verbatim if anyone asked him to while Pepper wants in and waits as Tony gathers his thoughts. His beautiful Pepper, ever so graceful, ever so patient. 

“He knows about Peter’s existence, worked in the same company that got Peter’s mom killed. He knows Lilah is connected to Mary. Most likely from the files, sure, but he knew how to _ find _ her.” She listens intently when he finally begins to speak and doesn't say anything as Tony continues. “He knows Mary's son is Spider-Man but he doesn’t know who's behind the mask...My guess is..he wants the formula. That stupid spider bite worked on Peter and he wants to access it. The minute the kid’s identity is revealed, he’s a target. Not just for Oscorp, but for Baxter too.”

The fear that rises when he finishes speaking almost makes him choke because Peter doesn't have a suit of armor like Tony, where people can just figure out how to access it and Tony is left unharmed. Peter _ is _ the suit of armor and Tony feels like throwing up again at the thought of what could happen if he's found out, if people get their hands on the spider DNA and it works. 

“You think Baxter is doing this on his own?”

“I do.”

“And Lilah—”

“Wants nothing to do with any of it,” Tony exhales, dragging a tired hand down his face and laying his head back against the headboard with his eyes to the ceiling this time around. “I told her Peter was Mary’s son and she just started crying. She was angry and cried just like Peter does when he’s too tired to fight so his frustration turns into tears? Just like that. Silent and just..waterworks. Told me she couldn’t help me and walked away.” 

He feels Pepper’s hand find his and then she quietly moves in close and wraps her arms around him, laying her head on his chest. Tony brings his lips to the top of her head in silence and he knows she can hear the quiet taunting him. 

“Rhodey’s looking to see what he can find too, from his database to keep any leads from coming back to you. This is going to be resolved.”

That Tony hopes. 

“It has to,” she whispers and plants a kiss to his chest, snuggling closer to him in their embrace. 

That Tony certainly knows. It has to. 

  
  
  


—

That very next morning after breakfast, Ned and Peter are both out in the field, sitting on the grass with Peter behaving like a complete teenage boy while also resembling a complete and creepy spider. Ned sits on the grass with his laptop opened and Peter’s camera beside him, Tony watching them from the glass window with his mug of coffee in hand. The kid is doing flips and running around as if Ned is testing him like Tony was a few weeks back. When FRIDAY announces that Rhodey is ready and at his station for his therapy session, Tony makes his way to him, exercising his mind into doing what he set out to accomplish today: clear his head and see what else he can find. Maybe having some genuine downtime will help him not freak out to the point where he can’t see past what’s in front of him. 

“Did I ever tell you blue's your color?” Tony greets Rhodey with a wiggle of his eyebrows and then winks at him as he enters the room. 

Rhodey glares his way as he holds onto the wall and moves all the way to the railing set up for him to test out the braces. Tony stands on the outside of it, as Rhodey gains control and steadiness on his own, Tony's hands itching to do it for him.

But he does, and Tony's hands hover in angles and ways Rhodey doesn't notice. Not all his attempts, anyway. 

“I hate you,” his friend tells him when he's reached his mark, Tony putting his hands inside his front pockets and dropping his head back with a loud "ha!" followed by a small chuckle.

He walks beside Rhodey the entire duration of his therapy. 

  
  


Ned and Peter spend almost all afternoon outside. They eat lunch out there, bring the beginning of their school projects, and come back in for refills of their water bottles just to head back out. The need for the sun is something Tony can understand. He misses Malibu with vigor the moment Peter comes back inside for his second refill of water, pushing his sunglasses up to his head and grabbing two juice pouches with him as well. Tony is standing by the sink, back against it as he reviews a few changes he made to the Iron Spider suit on his Starkpad, something Peter knows nothing about yet. The kid has his headphones in, mentioning MJ's name and listening intently with a grin on his lips.

"Pepper, that's so unfair," he laughs as he drops his head back and setting the waters and juices on the counter. He straightens and looks at Tony wearing a shocked smile on his face while shaking his head with his hand leaning against the counter.

Tony shuts the Starkpad down and sets it aside, watching Peter listen to Pepper on the other line.

"We're just friends! What is—no! Not like you and dad are friends—I—who _ are _ you? I'm cutting your Tony Stark time, Ms. Potts!"

Tony just watches as Peter shakes his head at him again, still grinning at Pepper's teasing. He grabs the Starkpad, moves in closer to him and kisses his forehead in passing out of the kitchen.

"Trust me, Peter. You love her. Pep is right."

"Oh my—I quit."

With a smirk of his own, Tony heads back down to the lab, leaving Peter to his call with Pepper, who knows everything and is always right. He'll let the kid live under the sun, enjoy the summer days that are around the corner. He'll look and search more on the documents MJ was able to retrieve, and when he does, he continues to hit dead ends. He finally hacks into Oscorp, there was no other way to get anything else but what he's looking for seems to be what they are also in the hunt for. Jonathan Baxter's file is completely erased from their server. Like he never existed. It complicates things. He searches for Mary but all he finds is what he already has. Nothing gets clearer, but then again, things always have to explode before the fog lifts and Tony just wants to deactivate the bomb before it goes off. 

So after his hacking, he makes sure with FRIDAY that his walls aren’t as vulnerable as Oscorp’s. 

Nothing out of place comes about by the time Pepper calls again to inform them she'll be at her mom's after she leaves the office, and proceeds to make plans for dinner tomorrow night with Tony. He is looking forward to that; her voice alone teleports him to another place when he answers her call. 

“Nothing new, boss. As soon as something comes up, I will send it your way.” 

Tony sips on his second mug of coffee of the day, his new amount of coffee intake thanks to Pepper and Peter harassing him to not drink unhealthy amounts of it. With a mumbled thank you to FRIDAY's response to his question once he arranged a new approach on the search, he continues to read up on the things Ross sent him regarding the prison break. It’s a distraction from his lack of insight on the things he actually aches to figure out. Not a great one but a distraction nonetheless. He reads Vision’s transponder’s location too. Far and most likely not alone, he assumes and shortly after, Tony receives an email from him that speaks of a return once he figures out what he set out to find out. Tony reads Ross’ document until take-out arrives.

Dinner is calm, simple. FRIDAY sends no new notification and he watches as Peter and Ned act more like brothers with each passing moment as they sit across from Tony and Rhodey in the common room. He watches them, something he has been doing all day with his eyes on Peter. He's so grown and really becoming his own person. It's fascinating watching time pass on his face. 

Rhodey tells stories about Tony again and Ned compares them to the ones with Peter. The kid laughs so hard at a point that his water comes out of his nose. Tony laughs so much when it all lands on Rhodey, he falls off the couch and that causes everyone to break into more fits of amusement for what feels like hours. It’s a good Saturday. He doesn't notice the serenity and quiet then, not when Peter is red as a tomato from laughing.

“Hey.”

Tony turns around to the sound of Peter’s voice coming from the entrance of his bedroom door and sets the Starkpad aside, giving his attention to Peter over his glasses. 

“Hey, kid.”

“Can I come in?”

Tony’s face shrinks in mild confusion and he nods, taking off his glasses and setting them on the night table by the Starkpad. 

“Where’s Ned? He asleep already?”

“There is a serious Smash Bros tournament between your friend and my friend. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ned so happy.”

Tony gives a soft chuckle as Peter sits on the bed and reaches for a pillow to hold against his chest before he moves over to sit next to Tony. His eyes fixate on the ceiling, looking and searching without much intent. 

“I can lift the punishment for an hour if you want to go play with ‘em. Don’t tell Pepper.”

Tony watches Peter grin as he continues to stare at the ceiling, settling against the headboard and his hand moves to touch the kid’s hair, gently carding through it a couple of times.

“Is it okay if I stay here instead? Just for a bit.”

“Only of course, young master. Wanna have a sleepover? We can talk about girls, huh? Huh?”

Peter chuckles at the question and shakes his head in amusement at Tony’s quirks. 

“FRIDAY, clouds please?” 

“Here you go, Peter.”

Tony moves so that he’s laying flat against the mattress when he hears his request to FRIDAY, and the kid follows his steps and settles right next to him now shoulder to shoulder. No one says anything as Peter simply holds the pillow to his chest and takes in a slow deep breath. 

“Those are definitely Disney Pixar clouds,” Tony points out once he notices. 

“You know,” Peter quietly begins, “Pepper and I are close. Really close. I talk to her every day, even if it’s just for two minutes, even if there’s only time for us to check in on each other. She’s always on my mind like you are. You guys broke up, and she was still so present in my life during that time.” His peace as he speaks is something that should be pleasing, but it sets Tony on edge. 

He doesn’t respond to any of what Peter said, feeling the way his heart starts to pick up while his mind begins connecting dots that aren’t present. Silences and downtime have been tainted; they no longer represent peace but the end of it. 

“I don’t call her mom because it just..fits, you know? Pepper,” Peter starts again as if to test how the name sounds on his lips. “Pepper,” he quietly speaks one more time. “She knows, we’ve talked about it. She almost cried when I brought it up a few years back, when the house was blown.”

“Yeah? You’ve talked about calling her mom?”

He can understand how that conversation between Tony and Pepper might’ve gotten lost. After Killian, things just went left. Left left left between them but he would love to talk to her about it now. It warms Tony’s chest, slows his speeding heartbeat. 

“Mhmm. It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that..She’s always been Pepper and ‘Pepper’ just _ feels_..right. In so many ways, she's always been my mom—_is _my mom. She knows it. I know it." When he says that, he turns to Tony, transparent as he can be and finishes with a "you do too.”

“I do," he whispers because Tony does. He does know. He nods and tells Peter, "I do, kid." They both face the ceiling again. 

“I’m really lucky,” Peter speaks with conviction, strong and present, though his voice is small when he does. Tony turns to him again but Peter's eyes are on the clouds. “Yeah, you heard me. Despite everything that has happened to us, I know I have it good.” His serenity, his composure becomes contagious while still rattling Tony up. “Not because of anything other than the family I have. That's..that's the best part about me. It's you, guys."

Tony, a family man. Tony, listening to people he loves more than anything tell him that they are lucky to be around him, be part of his tribe. Part of the journey alongside him. Peter was never one to mislead Tony into thinking that he would rather be anywhere else but hearing it like this leaves him winded and out of words. 

It's a wonderful thing, really. Because the best part of Tony was always, and will forever be, Peter. 

“Ned, Happy, uncle Rhodey...I have a mom that I love with my _ whole _ heart. I love Pepper, dad. She’s unbelievable. You _ literally _couldn’t have done better.”

Tony wears a smile with his misty eyes up to the ceiling. The clouds full, holding all the good memories of the sunshine kid that lays next to him.

“And you. I have you.” 

From the corner of his eye, he can see Peter turning to face him again and Tony cannot fight the way the kid’s words make themselves so tangible that he can physically feel them land on his chest a bit too hard and a bit too complete.

“I know that at times we don’t see eye to eye, and like normal father and son, we disagree on things. I know..that what you do is always with my best interest at heart even if I hate it. I know that, dad.”

Tony brings his hand to swiftly wipe at his face as his tears begin to fall while Peter continues. It’s all he’s able to do because his son doesn’t see his ego, doesn’t see his flaws, doesn't judge Tony by them. He doesn’t make his decisions around everything that’s wrong with Tony in mind. Peter has this _ undeniable _ faith in him; pure and genuine. It’s the scariest thing because the pedestal is high; the fall will hurt. But Peter..God. Peter sees Tony. Reads him like a book. 

“So don’t feel bad that May wants nothing to do with me. I’ve got all I could possibly need.”

The pain that he lets out when he says those words make Tony swallow dry before he can try to give some sort of comfort, something that doesn't set him up for failure. He can assure that were these different circumstances, Lilah would've jumped on the opportunity to meet Peter, to help him if she wasn't scared of what could happen to her, if she wasn't so angry at Mary. In the best way he can manage, he lets Peter know of that, and the kid is so good, so patient, he responds with a quiet "I can understand that."

Of course Peter heard Tony say those things about Lilah before. Of course he heard. Without a word, Tony moves in closer and plants a kiss to the side of his head, leaning back on the bed and taking Peter’s hand. Nothing else is said for a bit. They seem to be okay in this particular silence.

  
  


Awhile after, Tony shows Peter the Spider-Man street art and the kid loses his mind, telling Tony he can’t believe people are actually “destroying public property. It's awesome but...Is this a conflict of interest? Should I do something?”

“I know Triple Js is already doing it for you in the Daily Bugle.”

Peter gives half a shrug with a nod of agreement. 

They continue to watch the clouds in silence until Peter curiously asks Tony if he can tell him about his parents, in which Tony shuts his eyes with a steadying breath and decides to jump in head first, reminding Peter that his piano playing skills come from his grandmother. No use is beating around the bush. Head first into the water with this particular conversation.

"I knew that, yeah. You play because of her and I play because of you."

"We play because of her."

"True."

It's the perfect opening to tell him about all the great things Tony and her did together, all the great things Howard accomplished, Peter not missing anything in between the lines when he speaks in between a silence where Tony’s mind seems to be drifting off to days he remembers as if they were yesterday, when he would sit next to his mother while she played lullabies and he would watch her hands move, just like Peter did on his first days at the shop. 

“I know you and grandpa didn’t have the best relationship...But man, if he was half the man you are, he was quite a guy.”

Peter, always impressing Tony to the point he brings him to tears. Twice in one night. One thing is hearing these words from Pepper, but it’s a completely different beast when it comes from Peter. 

“Believe it or not, squirt, you had a lot to do with me becoming who you admire so much. I’d say you had everything to do with it.”

“I’m telling Pepper you gave her zero credit.”

And Tony laughs, Peter’s chuckle accompanying him. He gains his breath, the clouds still beautiful before him as they go back in a silence that doesn’t speak nor haunts. The silence Tony enjoys, and Peter seems to enjoy it too because shortly after they rest in it, Tony notices Peter sunk into sleep. That’s when he tells FRIDAY to tell Ned to follow into the kid’s steps for the night, that Peter will stay with Tony. And to tell Colonel Rhodes to set a good example. 

“Colonel Rhodes says to tell you tomorrow is Sunday and he’s winning.”

Tony rolls his eyes with a grin on his face because Rhodey can pull nothing but love out of him, so he accommodates himself against his bed as Peter hugs the pillow to his chest. When he looks over at him, the sight almost forces Tony to snap a picture and tell Lialh a few things about what she’s missing. 

—

Sunday morning over breakfast, Peter shows Tony MJ’s work for the drama department on the school website, bragging about how her talent and creative eye with theater makeup speaks for itself. They go through the pictures until Ryan takes Ned back home, leaving Peter and Tony to spend majority of the day with Rhodey, who by lunch time is cracking jokes about Tony to the kid, alternating without much structure between Rhodey’s questions about Spider-Man and stories Rhodey uses to embarrass his friend. 

“He was _ adorable_, Peter. Could’ve given you a run for your money.” Rhodey picks up his sandwich when he speaks, taking a bite of it with a very serious expression in his face.

“He never wants to show me pictures!” Peter exclaims with a smile while he sits doing that one leg against his chest pose, taking a sip of his cup of juice. Tony tried early on to stop Rhodey, but no force will bring him down from this abuse of power.

And so he gives up, reading Ross’ email while working on a few things with the hologram of the nanosuit on display next to the document.

“I got you, kid. Don’t worry.”

“Cool.” 

Tony rolls his eyes and then Pepper’s caller ID picture, the one with Peter and her in the pool the summer after the Hammer Bots fiasco, pops on the screen as FRIDAY announces a video call from her coming through. Everything is put aside when her face appears before him alongside her mother. They both wave at Tony and Peter hurries at his side to greet them, Rhodey waving towards them when Tony flips the holoscreen for him to do so. 

Lily looks better, but Tony can see time doing its damages on her face and her mind. He understands Pepper’s concern with her health. Sees it in Pepper's eyes whenever she comes back from spending a few days with her. 

Halfway through their conversation and catching up, Pepper’s mom retires from the call, making a point to check on whatever she has on the stove. When she leaves, Peter almost throws himself out of the window when he remembers he forgot to have Pepper tell Ned about her mother being named Lilianna, “_Lily _ for short, right? And she calls Pepper _ Ginny_. Virginia for short.”

Tony stares at Peter absolutely lost, holding zero expression as the kid turns to Tony and then to the screen while Rhodey sits across from them with a smirk mid-bite of his sandwich.

“What?”

“Dad! Lily? Ginny?” It hits Tony right then, but he won't tell him. What's the fun in that?

“Lilianna and Pepper, yes?”

With a frustrated grunt and throwing his arms up, he goes on about Tony being difficult and knowing about at least these two Harry Potter-related characters. 

“Ugh, and Pepper is a _ redhead_!”

“Does Ned not believe you?” Pepper asks between her curious chuckle, Tony turning to her with a grin of his own. 

“He does, but it would’ve been the icing on the _ cake _ coming from you. You would never lie.”

She continues to enjoy Peter’s outburst as the kid excitedly sits with his legs underneath him now, looking at Pepper and telling her in detail about the character correlation to her and her mother’s nicknames. Tony, knowing what he's saying and what he's referring to, decides to jump in and finish Peter’s sentence in the middle of his Book Ginny vs. Movie Ginny comparison. This is where the books and movies pay off in full because Peter stops short and whirls his head around to face Tony. 

“_Anthony_," he starts, full of emotion, "I am..so _ proud _of you.”

The room quiets for a beat and then Pepper and Rhodey laugh so hard at Peter’s serious expression while Tony tries to hold it, at the end, unable to do so and throwing himself at Peter then, the kid cackling as he tries to avoid for Tony to pinch his nose. 

There is no Barnes, no Rogers switching morals overnight. Maria and Howard are both gone, and Tony seems at peace with it in that moment. Maybe for good now. There is no threat to Peter’s life, Rhodey isn’t laying on the ground, unmoving. Pepper is back in his life, and Tony has no worries. This is his Sunday. He’s in one of those special hours, those small ones full of perfect peace, and he’ll be damned if he lets it become a memory before he knows it, one of those he will look back on and wished he was more present for.

—

Monday brings no word from Lilah, no appearances from Baxter. It has Tony doing a thorough search on MJ because he can never be too safe, and a picture of Peter informing Tony he joined the drama club, even though it’s mostly for clean up and to occupy the free period for his last class since the school year is coming to an end. His face is covered in make-up with MJ leaning close to him with a brush around his face. Courtesy of Ned. Tony shows Rhodey and Rhodey’s comment of smitten has the potential to give Tony a mild heart attack. These things are bound to happen, sure, so when Peter tells Tony that for the next two weeks, he will have Ryan drop him off at Ned's so they can work on their final projects, he is sure half of that time will be spent with MJ. Starting today. And again, completely okay. Life happens to everyone. Tony can handle this. Peter growing up and falling in love and going on dates and leaving and punching Tony in the chest with his inevitable cycle of leaving the nest. No problem. Totally handled. Sure. Cool. No freak outs. Cool. He’s cool. Tony is ice cold. 

By the time Peter gets home a few minutes after 9 o’clock that evening due to projects and MJ—Tony is sure of it—Tony is on the phone with Helen Cho, organizing schedules and times so that everything works out smoothly for Peter’s day under the microscope. The kid walks into the common room and throws his backpack on the couch, holding the camera against him as it's around his neck as he leans down and gives Tony a kiss to his forehead, then stepping out and asking FRIDAY about Rhodey, telling her to warn him that he’s on his way to him as soon as therapy is over. 

Tony ends his call and follows after the kid, catching him in the kitchen while he raids the refrigerator. With two juice pouches and two tupperware with leftovers from earlier, Peter shuts the fridge with his foot and sets everything on the peninsula counter. Rhodey sends word through FRIDAY that the kid is more than welcomed after gait training, which is Rhodey's favorite if he had to pick a method of recovery. Trying to walk in the pool with the braces might be a challenge but he welcomes it. Tony tries not to let it push him to the ground with guilt whenever the conversation about therapy methods comes around.

“How was your day?” Tony asks as he takes a seat across Peter by the peninsula counter. 

Peter begins to talk as he moves around the kitchen, grabbing a pan and opening the tupperware where the chicken fried rice is. He drops it in the pan and then turns to the counter and grabs a juice pouch and stabs the little straw through the hole. The projects are moving along, photography is better than ever, MJ and Ned are a great team. And then that's it. All he talks about around his first juice pouch and barely coming up for air is that: MJ and drama club. And MJ. And Ned and MJ. Ned. MJ and MJ. 

“I mean, look at this. It’s me but it's _ not _ me. I’m blonde with a huge nose and light eyes!”

“Contacts?” Tony asks too creeped out by the picture Peter shows him, resembling Thor a bit too much. He hands the phone back to the kid as Peter nods, moving to the stove and lowering the fire on the burner where the pan with the fried rice is. He then takes another pan out and sets it next to the one already being used. 

“Oh, I wanna talk to you about something,” he begins, turning on the stove and then opening the dispenser and taking out the avocado oil, Pepper's doing. Pepper's purchase. He pours a bit on the pan and then whirls around to grab the tupperware that’s filled with ramen noodles. He sets it aside after he opens it, waiting for the pan to heat as he moves to the cereal cabinet and grabs the box of crackers on the top shelf with his webs. 

Tony holds the bridge of his nose in a tired breath. He says nothing because how pointless it is to try to tell this spider terror to learn how to wait and not snack on everything while his food is being prepared. 

He opens the box of crackers and takes a few out, puts them in his mouth and turns to the stove to dump his noodles into the pan. Then immediately goes to stir his rice; with his back to Tony he speaks again.

“Yeah, so reinstatement can't be sooner? There have been some ATM robberies and I need to stop that, like, immediately.” Peter puts the spoon to stir his food aside and then opens the cabinet to grab a fork to move his ramen noodles. When that's done and Tony gets whiplash from watching him move around so much, the kid lowers the heat on that and turns around and towards the crackers.

"So? Dad?"

But Tony watches as Peter reaches the fridge again and takes out an apple because he won't eat them unless they're cold, so Tony made sure they were in there after the kid left for school. Peter, though, doesn't stop moving and keeps bringing food out of storage, following the apple with the peanut butter jar.

"Peter, kid. Enough, you're gonna get a stomachache. Wait for your food to heat up." 

With a "no, I'll be fine," and all his adrenaline that seems to have stuck from his day, he grabs a butter knife from the cabinet and opens the peanut butter jar with an "I could eat _ you _ right now."

Tony sits back in feigned alertness and Peter pauses, staring at Tony in a weird way and slowly putting the knife down as he walks around the counter with the peanut butter in hand. In a whisper, he says, "you look like a giant cheeseburger, Mr. Stark," but Tony pinches his nose and Peter returns to his side of the kitchen with an exaggerated yelp, telling FRIDAY to tell "uncle Rhodey when he's done that _ his friend _is being mean to me."

Tony rolls his eyes as Peter takes a bite of his apple and sticking his tongue out at his spider-mess, he grabs the peanut butter and asks Peter to "calm down, will you? Pass me a spoon and tend your food."

Peter does as told and when he's by the stove again, he asks Tony over his shoulder about "Spider-Man? Back when? ATM robberies? Need to help the city of Queens as soon as possible?"

“You go back Saturday. What do you mean 'ATM robberies?'” Tony speaks as he grabs the spoon and dips it in the jar. 

“Exactly that,” Peter answers while bringing a mouthful of rice to his mouth directly from the pan. "I need to stop them," he continues to speak around his bite of food and then takes another before shutting the rice burner off. 

“Let the police handle it. It’ll be fine. You’re still grounded and if I hear anything about you sneaking off to be Spider-Man before you’re allowed to, you better start saying goodbye to Queens.”

“Fine, fine,” he agrees with his mouth full of noodles now, turning that one off as well. Tony gives him a disapproving look that makes Peter stop moving altogether when he turns around. He slowly finishes the bite in his mouth and with his eyes on Tony, he quietly offers his apologies. “Sorry,” is what he mouths and Tony rolls his eyes and looks down at the jar, taking a bit of peanut butter. 

Tony scoops _ once _because if he doesn't exercise self control on this, he’ll eat the entire jar in one sit down. Before he eats his treat, he points the loaded spoon at Peter, making it clear he hopes he isn't telling Tony what he wants to hear and then going off and doing the opposite. 

He gives Tony his word and trusting him, the man nods with the jar in hand, and bringing the spoon to his mouth, savoring his moment. Peter reaches across the counter and takes the jar from him, picking up the butter knife and cutting a small piece of his apple, offering it to Tony after he puts a smudge of peanut butter on it. Tony takes it gladly as Peter stretches it across the counter for him take and then spreads some on the rest of his apple, leaving enough clear space to hold it without getting his fingers dirty. Tony finishes his bite and thanks Peter, now watching him prepare food that would seem normal for a growing boy, but the spider DNA is taking its toll on his appetite. With the jar of peanut butter closed and away now, Tony begins to tell him about Helen Cho finally coming over on Wednesday, to be in the car with Ryan right after school, "and inside the quinjet promptly, you got it?"

Peter serves his rice onto a plate, noodles in another as he nods to Tony's requests.

“I’m nervous.”

“Why?” 

The kid sets the pans in the sink, rinsing them with water before he puts them in the dishwasher and turns around grabbing two forks and placing the plates between them, setting the utensils by them too. 

“It’s _Helen_ _Cho_, dad. What kind of question is that,” Peter says with mild shock coming across as he opens the fridge and grabs a water bottle, and gathers his crackers, two small bags of sunchips and his remaining juice pouch, setting it all by his side. Then he grabs an empty plate and serves a portion of rice and ramen on it, sliding it over to Tony.

“You’ll be fine,” Tony dismisses with a wave of his hand. Peter moves around to grab a stool to sit across from him and begins to eat his noodles.

"That's for you. It's real good," the kid encourages, getting up from his seat after his first bite and heading to the fridge yet again to grab the soy sauce. Today must've been a long day in a good, productive way. And there wasn't even any Spider-Man involved. "I can put peanut butter on it if it helps," Peter says, suggesting it might not be a bad idea with the way his face contorts. 

Tony, amused and adoring his wacky son, grabs the fork and brings his plate closer while fondly shaking his head at Peter's small "yay!" he voices under his breath.

  
  


The kid finishes his food by the time Rhodey is finished with his session and is welcoming guests. He says he’ll clean up and call Pepper before he heads over to Rhodey so Tony gives him a thumbs up and heads over to his friend's quarters. He knocks on the door, opening it shortly after Rhodey grants him permission and finds the colonel on the phone while sitting on the corner of his bed; his feet are flat on the ground and braces are strapped to his legs. Tony walks over and sits on the other end of the mattress, dropping on it with his arms spread out.

He waits for Rhodey to finish, and when he does, Tony asks, “do you think Peter’s gonna be taller than me?”

“Yes,” he answers, way too confident and way too sure for Tony's liking. Rhodey begins to stand slowly and holding onto the bed as he drops his phone on it. Tony watches him steady himself; even though his movements have improved, they aren’t in the shape that Tony knows Rhodey wants them to be. 

“I was just talking to him and he’s almost my height. That upsets me. Truly.”

Rhodey chuckles while taking small steps towards his desk, reaching the chair and steadying himself. Tony stands from the bed and heads to the desk, standing before Rhodey with silent apologies and an anger that flares up in waves. 

"I'll let you help if you wear the Halloween costume you wore to Melissa’s party."

Tony ducks his head in a chuckle and then raises it to find Rhodey's smile to be heartfelt, nothing but good memories conveying from it.

"That maid servant costume was a hit; Jessica really enjoyed it."

"She did, didn't she?"

"Oh yeah. Undressing me was no problem to her. Matter of fact—"

"And we're done with memory lane," Rhodey interrupts making Tony cackle as he takes Rhodey's hand and helps him back on his bed.

Tony lays back on the bed himself how he was moments before as Rhodey asks where Peter is, and before he can answer, FRIDAY cuts in. 

“Boss, you should turn on the news.” Before it could even be consented, FRIDAY turns on the TV and there on the screen, the Oscorp vice president is talking about the death of one of his former employees. 

Jonathan Baxter. 

Tony slowly sits up as Rhodey increases the volume on the TV, Tony not missing the shadow that stills at Rhodey's door. Apparently, he was one of the passengers in the taxi that was found in the Hudson. The passengers were all residents of Queens, Tony not recognizing anyone from the head shots they show, but he asks FRIDAY to dig deeper on who they were. Tony looks at Rhodey without a word, the same curious expression being returned as they refocused on the screen, the anchor continuing on about Jonathan Baxter, former shunned Oscorp scientist, now dead. Another to the pile. 

"FRIDAY, Lilah Reilly. Where is she? Any sightings today?"

“Let me check for you..One second..."

They wait, the shadow by the door present and very still. Tony stares at the TV, watching the pictures of the people that were involved in the tragedy on display again. FRIDAY's search on them has no irregularities. Regular people, on a regular day that were probably caught up in Baxter's schemes and it all blew up with them in the middle.

"FRIDAY, is she at work? Talk to me."

"I can't answer that—"

"Hack into it, override it. Tell me she clocked in today."

It takes her five seconds too long, but she tells Tony her shift started at 8 o'clock, and that she has been in the hospital ever since. 

Tony stands from his spot on the bed with his heart in his throat for a number of reasons he doesn't want to disclose because Peter is listening. So he walks over to the door and opens it completely, the kid standing before him, worry all over his face as Tony silently steps aside to let him through and into the room. 

“You heard?”

The kid nods, his eyes not moving from Tony's. He tries not to mirror Peter's concern and he hopes he's doing a good job about it.

“Incoming call from Ms. Potts, boss.”

“Put her through.” Tony turns to the TV again as Peter walks over to Rhodey, sitting on the bed with him in complete silence. They continue to watch the news as the screen splits in half, now one occupied by Pepper's caller ID picture.

“Tony, are you watching the news?” 

“Yup.”

“What are you thinking?”

“Trying to figure that out,” he answers, Jonathan Baxter’s headshot displayed on the screen as Tony continues to stare at it.

—

Tony lays on his bed in the middle of the night, thinking about the sudden change of factors in this whole scene. Peter is asleep next to him, the clouds still floating freely above them long after Peter shut his eyes and his breathing evened out. He thinks about him, his safety. Not knowing what this means. Not knowing who is behind all of these strange things taking place. So sudden, so potentially detrimental. It seems so simple. Baxter wanted the spider DNA, so did Oscorp. They killed Mary over it. 

But now Jonathan is dead, so they weren't working together? Tony's head hurts from all the dots and gaps in this equation. He looks at Peter sound asleep next to him and turns his eyes to the ceiling again. And then his mind picks up speed. From Peter to Maria, from Maria to Rogers, to Peter again at the age of five and then to Peter just two hours ago saying goodnight to Pepper on the phone. Losing Pepper again, in an irreparable way. It pin pongs from Lilah Reilly and the death of Baxter, from what it could mean, from Howard yelling at him and being absent, from Maria comforting Tony and playing the piano, the sound always soothing him. There is no coordination when he begins to spiral, to let fears merge and create this big monster that won't let him sleep at night, that demands he does more, demands better. This creature that puts all the weight on his shoulders and the ice begins to crack from underneath him even more. Again. 

It grows and grows and—

Peter begins to fuss in his sleep, and almost immediately after, he sits up with a small groan, startling Tony to sit up by his elbows on the bed. He watches him as the kid stumbles out of bed and half awake stands by Tony's side, opening one eye with his hair everywhere and face heavy with sleep. 

"I have to go to the bathroom, but," he slurs out and places his hand on Tony's chest as the man remains propped up on his elbows, "easy, dad." With that, Peter begins to head to the bathroom, Tony dropping back on the bed with a heavy sigh, shutting his eyes and trying to take deep breaths. 

On his second inhale, FRIDAY speaks quietly and tells Tony that Rhodey is awake and might need assistance. He sits up on his bed and grabs his robe, Peter coming out of the bathroom, alert, watching the current video of Rhodey down on the ground by the railings of the therapy room, unable to stand on his own. Peter's eyes widen at the sight and his face of sleep is replaced by his concern as he turns to Tony. He doesn’t say anything as he moves to the door and Peter follows close behind him. When they reach Rhodey, he’s still on the ground with the braces on his legs. The Starks don’t hesitate to approach him but Rhodey stops them before they can do anything. 

“No, no..Don’t help, don’t help.”

Tony and Peter stop at Rhodey’s request while he settles and sits on the floor. The kid looks at Tony, something resembling guilt that begins to brew in his eyes and Tony won't stand by it, but doesn't know how to fix this. _ This _ he cannot fix. Peter turns to Rhodey again and walks over to him. When Rhodey opens his eyes, his good natured sunshine of a kid sits in front of him with his legs at an angle so that the soles of his feet are pressed together. Tony can’t seem to be able to handle the sight before him but can’t stop looking at them. Peter puts his hands on his feet and Tony moves over and crouches down next to Peter then, Rhodey looking at the kid before locking his eyes on Tony's.

“What are you looking at?” Tony asks, quietly, hopefully in a way that can convey how sorry he is about all of this. And how he’s not going to leave Rhodey’s side because of it. 

“I’m looking at you.” Rhodey gives Tony a faint smirk and then shakes his head with a small breath and a smile resembling a memory that seems to settle over him. When he looks back up, he looks at Peter. “138,” he calls out. 

Tony pays close attention as Rhodey begins to speak while Peter never takes his eyes off him. 

“138 combat missions. That’s how many I’ve flown.” His eyes shift to Tony then and he continues to speak. “Any one of them could’ve been my last but I flew them ‘cause the fight needed to be fought. It’s the same with these accords.” 

Tony’s chest tightens at the mention of the accords. Because right. The Accords. The wreckage. The literal break up. The new found "criminals." The teammates, the friendships. The lack of reason—from everyone. The earth unprotected. Rhodey. 

“I signed because it was the right thing to do.” When he says that, he looks at Peter, but as he continues, his eyes turn to Tony again. “And yeah, this sucks, this is a bad beat..” And with full confidence and standing strong in what he says, being the man he sure hopes Peter grows up to be, he says, “but it hasn’t changed my mind.” 

Raising Peter woke up all sensitive and emotional reactions out of Tony. He doesn’t remember crying, _ ever_, after his parents died. It wasn't until he held him that he felt his heart give way to something other than a wall. It just wasn’t normal to express himself in such a way before Peter. But here he is, grateful and misty eyed at the fact that Rhodey remains an even stronger version of himself. And Tony is still allowed to be by his side through it. 

“I don’t think,” Rhodey concludes with a grin towards Peter, who returns it. Tony puts his hand out and Rhodey takes it, and he helps him up. 

“You alright?” Tony asks as Rhodey stands. 

“Yeah. Fine. Trying to speed up the process so I can stand by my vigilante, here. Which I'm still not entirely okay with, by the way, but I’ll be fine.”

Tony looks Peter's way as Rhodey speaks. 

“Not to be that parent, but the itsy bitsy Stark is not half bad.”

—

In the next few days, Rhodey gets better with each session, especially with Peter spending his time with him after he gets home, which is always after 9 o'clock. He always comes home with school work and pictures of Ned and MJ in his camera. Pictures of them working, pictures of MJ, beautiful candid shots of her. Pictures of the three of them, those are specially for Tony. Because the last time Peter’s schedule was like this, the kid turned out to be a web-swinging, wall-crawling spider in Queens behind Tony's back. And it seems that Peter senses Tony's doubts because he doesn't ask for the evidence that Peter provides. The kid always comes from his study sessions and calls Pepper while he's with Tony to tell them both about his day. It's that Tuesday night that they speak to him about Tony and Pepper getting back together, in a more thorough manner, about Spider-Man and Pepper being out of the loop. It was a good Tuesday, the core of the ritual is something Tony really enjoys doing with the kid.

—

The one day Peter is home before dinner is when Helen Cho is at the compound, which turned out to be a treat for her more than it was for Peter. The response Peter got from her was so close to Bruce's, Tony was able to depict the moment Peter was drowning in his memories and his longing for his friend's return. He understood the sentiment at the time. Nevertheless, she does exactly what Tony hoped she would do, and now he has a better understanding of the kid's DNA, how to treat him in case of any abnormality, tells them about thermoregulation, which scared Tony to no end. Metabolism, development in his biology as a teenager, briefly spoke about sensory overload, self healing and how to get the most out of it when he needs it. Prepared and gave him formulas to pain relievers for whatever use Peter might have a need of. Being headaches, stomach pains, surgery or battle wounds.

"Kind of like morphine but with a metabolism that can sustain it," she had said when Peter was sitting on the medical bed with his feet swinging in a hospital gown. 

"Sweet."

"You better not need this, you hear me?"

Peter crossed his heart with a very serious look that looked way too silly for Tony to be at peace about it. Helen chuckled as she continued jotting things down on her chart.

After, she had asked Tony if she can speak to his on-call medical staff at the tower so that they can be caught up to Peter's specific needs in case he needs to be looked over for whatever reason. She recommended one of her own to on call, someone that's already in the state of New York and has her own medical team, all trained and promoted by her. 

"Most importantly, they will be discreet about Peter's abilities and who he is."

"Yes, but also NDAs, Helen," Tony pointed out as he stood by Peter while the kid was in the middle of his blood sugar test. 

"NDAs, Ms. Cho," Peter chimed in around his piece of chocolate, feet swinging from the bed while he concentrated on his piece of candy. Tony turned to him with an incredulous look on his face because the eating with his mouth open has _ got _ to _ stop_, and Peter seemed to catch on because he stopped chewing and then slowly swallowed the piece in his mouth, turned to Helen and started with an "I'm sorry, Ms. Cho. That was rude. I was raised better than that."

Tony had facepalmed with a groan while Helen had given Peter a conservative smile she meant. Tony was sure of it. 

After Peter asked all his questions about his DNA, he then won Helen over when he spoke about her work, talking and sounding like Bruce when he did. Tony almost cried for too many painful reasons. She left impressed and smitten by one Peter Stark. 

—

Thursday dinner that week had to be pizza and a video call. Pepper still in California, eating an early dinner while Peter made it a point to be home a bit earlier to receive her phone call. Peter ordered pizza and sat in his room with Pepper on the phone for almost four hours, pizza in each state. As that took place, Tony was in the lab, making sure Lilah Reilly is still alive, checking and keeping track of her as best as he can, even if it's frowned upon or stalker-like, and God knows he's not doing the stalker part. Something happens to this woman and Tony will have to burn the whole world down. He's making sure that doesn't have to happen. There aren't any irregularities after Baxter's death and though it doesn't make his worries disappear, it brings them down a notch. 

—

Friday, Peter continues to come home with a joy and a smile that might be concerning if Tony didn't know the kid is just being a normal teenager, working on final school projects with his best friend and a girl he's crushing hard on. 

—

Saturday, Vision makes an appearance, all too quiet and leaving Rhodey and Tony flabbergasted when he returns with no trace of being created in a lab. Nevertheless, Rhodey and Tony stand to greet him, asking him if he’d like to join them for dinner before Happy gets there and drives Tony back to the tower to check on DUM-E and the rest of the clang. Vision stays. 

  
  


The discussion of Tony coming back doesn't go as he planned, and Vision guarantees he'll be around for at least two weeks until things settle. Tony doesn't ask what he means. He doesn't want to know what has to settle either. But it's always good to see him. After two weeks, he will see where everyone stands because Rhodey refuses to leave the compound and Tony knows Pepper won't have a problem staying with Rhodey. And with school coming to an end for the summer, Peter won't either. At least until school starts back up again, he’ll talk to the kid and Pepper about staying at the compound. 

“Welcome home, boss.”

“Ah, FRIDAY. Long time, no speak.” Tony says as Happy walks in with Peter’s bag and sets it by the elevator doors. "Wasn't I _ just _ talking to you an hour ago?"

“Were you in the tower when that conversation took place?” She asks as Tony sets his keys on the coffee table and confused, looks up like Peter does when addressing her.

“No?”

“Then, I stand by my greeting.”

Tony smirks as he nods his head in approval of her sassiness. Always approved even if he pretends he feels otherwise. Turning around to face Happy, he asks him to please hurry back with Pepper. "The new guys you trained are good? She likes them."

"I made sure they were. Don't worry."

"Good," Tony says looking around the tower, exactly how he left it. "I like you better but promotions are tricky, aren't they?"

“They are."

Tony continues to look around the room, the idea of a farm, that simple life seeming so far fetched yet..

"You deserve it. Now, please go get her," Tony diverts his mind as he turns back to happy.

"Missed her, didn’t you?”

“Don’t I always? Go or you’re fired.”

Happy rolls his eyes with a fondness behind the response and steps back inside the elevator. With a sigh, he takes his phone out of his pocket and reads the messages from Peter, one telling him he's never taking the suit off ever again and another of him, taking selfies in the most ridiculous and dangerous way. 

**Itsy Bitsy Stark**

**This picture is not funny.**

**I'm gonna sell it. Make tons of money**

**Stark.**

**Come on. It's worth a fortune. **

**You know how many tries it took to get this shot?**

**I almost DIED**

**Spidey taking the most daring selfies**

**Have you ever heard of the show ridiculousness?**

**I thought..**

**And correct me if I’m wrong **

**But **

**Endangerment of life was to be prevented?**

**Two more weeks of no Spidey? **

**You cool with that?**

**Omg**

**I CAN SELL THEM TO THE DAILY BUGLE**

**PETER**

**:) love you jk**

**Adoption.**

**Wow tough crowd**

He sets his phone back in his pocket and lets the kid enjoy his first night out before he calls him back in. Indefinitely. So as he makes his way to the workshop, FRIDAY speaks about a package being delivered to the tower by Natasha, which currently resides at the entrance of the lab. Tony freezes at the sound of her notice. 

"What?"

"She stopped by five days ago, shortly after your departure, had given me instructions to let you know about the package once you were in the tower and alone."

He wants to ask FRIDAY how she was able to enter the tower, unseen and was able to tell FRIDAY how to handle the situation. But just like the rooms at the compound, Tony never took them off the security server. If they wanted to come back and go unnoticed, they would have no problem entering the facility. Which they did. So Tony doesn't ask.

Instead he makes his way to the lab and sees the small FedEx box sitting by the door, unopened. He picks it up and enters the lab, DUM-E and U moving over to him, beeping with clear excitement at Tony's arrival. He gives them half a smile and a pat, trying to get his nerves under control at what he holds in his hands. Before he can begin maintenance on his kids, he sits by his station and opens the box. 

A letter from Steve and a burner phone. He talks about faith and giving something to Tony that no longer works, something that will need a lot more than what he's offering to restart. It frustrates him all over again; the lack of vision in Rogers, with his "I'm sorry that what I did hurt your feelings" poor excuse of an apology in that letter. Not that it matters. Everything is broken now. There's no coming back from this one. He knows he won't be mad forever, that even as he sits here his resentment is slowly simmering, just a very present spark, but right now all he can do is make sure that phone is charged and move right along. Because the world will be needing them one day either way.

He puts the phone in a drawer, thoughts and memories along with it, and walks over to the bots, giving them all the attention they need. And that's what he does for the next hour, finishing up with all three of them and standing up with a groan from tightening DUM-E's wheels.

"I'm getting old, buddy," he says as he pats him. 

“FRIDAY, tell me you got that long overdue confession.”

Tony turns around and sees Pepper in the frame of the doors, grinning with her eyes sparkling as he takes her all in. 

“Got it, Ms. Potts,” FRIDAY responds.

“FRIDAY, whose side are you on?” Tony looks up at her, indignant and trying to kill the habit Peter started with his eyes to the sky whenever he talks to her. 

“Peter’s.”

Tony glares as Pepper begins to laugh, Tony setting the wrench down and meeting her half way when she begins moving over to him. God, he missed her. He missed her like he has never before. 

“Ms. Potts," he softly greets with his arms wrapping around her waist. 

"Mr. Stark," she smiles through her greeting. Tony places a piece of her hair behind her ear, leaving one hand on her waist as she continues to speak. “I picked up sushi, you wanna have dinner with me?” She asks this quietly between Tony’s kisses, her small giggle while he does it reviving him in all forms. 

“You’re not mad at me anymore?”

She shakes her head, biting her smile down as Tony locks his hands behind her waist. 

“Peter has Stark blood. He was going to do what he wanted whether you approved or not.”

“See? This is why you’re the brains of the team.”

She lets go of another small giggle between Tony’s repeated kisses again and asks again if he’s interested in dining with her.

“Can I dine it off you?” Tony suggests.

“Can I dine it off _ you_?”

“God, I missed you.”

Her laugh will get him through the night, he can feel it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter alone is 14k+ and I was really debating about splitting it but it wouldn’t work with the set up coming up on the next chapter. Anyway, YES. 
> 
> So much happening. 
> 
> Also, also. The brothers marrying the sisters is an actual thing in my family. My parents and their siblings are married. I always thought that was really cool lol
> 
> Tell me all you’re thinking in the comments. And again..Thank you so much for reading and sticking through this with me. So grateful for all of you who take your time to read and comment and just have a genuine good time with this story :D
> 
> Talk to me, talk to me :)
> 
> Go be happy.


	14. The Musical

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Start of springtime with the Starks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I've been gone for way too long, and for that I'm sorry. It's been such a whirlwind around here, pre-world apocalypse. 
> 
> I lost a friend in February, a great guy and guys..I was asked to sing one of his favorite songs at his service, and woo. I'm still not entirely recovered from it. 
> 
> And with this whole COVID-19, just a few days ago, another person I knew, such a good man, couldn't survive it; he also passed and life has become surreal at the moment. Because I can't even be with my friends in times like these; I can't leave my house. My health complications make me a perfect target in this climate and my parents have me under a tight watch. I can't even look outside lol. It's crazy. 
> 
> But I have peace knowing they are in a magnificent place, that I will get to see them again someday. All is well. 
> 
> So regarding this story..while I was editing this chapter, which is...ridiculously long so take your time reading it, I laughed and cried and got so excited that I finally have the time to perfect it for you to also enjoy. Which I sincerely hope you do. 
> 
> Remember this story is beta'd by yours truly so pardon the mistakes. 
> 
> Lastly, thank you so much for coming back and reading this thing that took a wild turn.
> 
> **Translations are at the end notes**
> 
> Edit: the image that is now on this chapter is from the AMAZING AND INCREDIBLE @juiche on Tumblr who really made my heart so full with her incredible work. Thank you thank you thank you for this.  
I hope you guys enjoy the artwork as much as I do because I’m obsessed.
> 
> That's all from me, and thank you again for reading! Enjoy<3000

**Act I**

**Track I**

After realizing that Peter is supposed to be home in 20 minutes, Tony and Pepper decide to go about a more conventional way to eat their sushi. And so, Tony watches her move around the kitchen, the love and affection, all the admiration oozing out of him while she gives him glances with a quiet smirk as she begins to set the peninsula counter. He pays attention to her care for Peter’s take out, placing his ramen back in the brown bag and setting it on the kitchen counter. Moving with ease around the room and how domestic it all feels has Tony sporting a grin that feels permanent. Pepper sets Tony’s plate before him, then leaning over the counter with her hands flat on the surface, practically in the air; he meets her halfway while she attempts to restrain her smile as share a brief kiss.

“FRIDAY, play something nice, will you?” Tony asks as she then settles back across from him on her seat.

Without verbal confirmation from her, AC/DC starts blasting overheard, Pepper’s startle accompanied by a gasp that quickly turns into a resigned look on her face; she continues to take the platters out of the bags. 

“Really, FRIDAY? That’s it. Peter is prohibited to interact with you.” As Tony speaks, he shakes his head, opening his napkin and placing it on his lap. He catches Pepper’s smirk as she finishes opening the platters and then stands to grab the wine glasses from the cupboard. 

“Why is it Peter’s fault?”

“This has that spiderboy’s.._learned _ behavior all over it, that _ terror_.”

Pepper chuckles on her way back to the counter, Tony rolling his eyes when FRIDAY tells him that he loves “this song, boss. It’s nice, just what you requested.”

“Shut the music. Thanks for nothing.” 

Pepper’s amused grin doesn’t allow Tony to get too carried away with any more scolding because, what a way to distract him, that beautiful expression upon her face. So he leaves FRIDAY alone as he shakes his head and pours the white wine in Pepper’s glass. 

“I’ll leave his ramen in the bag since he’ll be home soon. I got it from that place he and Ned are always going on about.” She takes her seat, opening her napkin as well. 

“I’m surprised Helen didn’t find noodles or chunks of chocolate in his bloodstream,” Tony says while picking up a couple of rolls of the spicy tuna and placing them on his plate. 

Pepper chuckles lightly while opening the last container by her, and pushes it over to Tony while he pours soy sauce on his side plate. With chopsticks in her hand, she tells him what she’s offering. He takes the lobster roll and thanks her, setting it on his plate. 

“How did you leave Rhodey? How’s the adjustment with the braces?” Pepper grabs her glass once Tony is done pouring the wine into his own when she asks.

“He’s fine; Vision’s back for a couple of weeks so,” Tony shrugs, “he’s made a lot of progress. Braces seem to be helping. No complaints.”

“Mmm,” she nods, setting her glass down and begins to eat. Once she takes her first piece though, she stills and Tony does the same with a look to her and his chopsticks in hand. 

“Something wrong?”

“Smell this,” she tells him as she covers her mouth with her hand while talking around her bite and then brings her plate up to him to inspect. 

Tony does, looking for something in particular but finds nothing rotten nor out of place. He looks at the sushi then. Normal. 

“Anything weird?”

He shakes his head at her question, shrugging his shoulders, so Pepper brings the plate back and finishes her bite, switching from the tuna rolls to the California rolls instead. She carefully picks up the California roll and brings it to her mouth, her eyes searching while she chews. She doesn’t seem to find anything, Tony watching her search and fall into satisfaction all the same.

“You okay?”

She nods, mouth full of food and _ closed_, like Peter needs to learn how to do. 

“Mm,” she hums while swallowing her bite and then picking up her glass again, “it tasted..fishier than usual.”

“You sound like Peter,” he comments and brings his glass to his lips, not quite hungry as he switches from the spicy tuna rolls on his plate to the California rolls, just like Pepper. 

His mind begins to travel back to the lab, and the phone that sits in the drawer of his desk now. He sets his glass back down and grabs his chopsticks again while looking at his food.

“What’s with the frown, Mr. Stark?”

“What?” He looks up at the sound of her question.

“Something’s bothering you. What’s going on?” She sets her glass down and pours soy sauce on her side plate.

Tony didn’t even know he was frowning. His stomach was doing all the angst, he was sure, unaware his face was in on it. He was going to tell her after dinner, once they’ve had their nice time together. With his eyes down to his plate, he takes a deep breath and decides to address the nagging that’s poking him; maybe his appetite will open up if he tells her now; Rogers can’t have this much power over him, to ruin his dinner with his favorite girl. He looks at her and grabs his glass of wine. Takes a sip. Sets it down and inhales a breath. 

“Rogers sent me a package,” he exhales out, tired.

Immediately, Pepper stills right as she puts another piece of sushi in her mouth and stares at Tony. He nods, unable to override how..crappy he feels about that notion alone. A package. Talking about “if you need me, I’ll be there.” And he means that, that’s the thing. Yeah, well Tony needed him to—

“Oh no,” she mumbles around her food, covering her mouth and taking Tony out of his thoughts. Thank God for Pepper. 

“Yup,” he says, looking to the side with his elbow on the counter and resting his chin on his hand.

“This is bad.”

He reaches for his wine glass. “Yeah? I don’t know..I think that—" but Pepper cuts him off, finishing his sentence. 

“I’m gonna throw up.”

“Well, not quite,” he says looking into his glass before he brings it to his lips, but he stops short and then sets it down, his eyebrows knitting together in slight confusion as he redirects his eyes to her. “Wait, what?”

In mild fright, he stands as Pepper rushes off her seat and begins sprinting to the nearest bathroom as she tells him to not eat his sushi with the one piece still in her mouth. He keeps in tow with her and helps her when she reaches the toilet bowl just in time while Tony scrunches his face in disgust and holds her hair back when she begins doing..that. 

He lets her..release for a couple of moments before he speaks. “You want me to sue?”

Still though, she answers with another puddle of..feedback of sushi. Tony can do blood. He can do gore. But goodness gracious, _ throw up_? He gags as he turns his head away from her with his eyes shut, kneeling next to her, rubbing her back with one hand while the other continues to grab her hair. 

“I’m suing,” he says, shutting his eyes tighter at the sounds—oh God, the sounds—and heaving a soundless gag himself.

And Pepper keeps going while Tony tries not to.

“And I will _ not _ settle,” he continues speaking, this time struggling to keep his wine down.

Pepper heaves _ again—_when does it end, when does it end?!—but nothing comes out that time if the silence that follows is any indication. She pauses for a second and then sits up with a miserable look towards Tony, who automatically sympathizes as he stands and reaches under the sink for the tissues to pass to her.

“You...can go.”

“No, that’s—I got this. What do you need? Let’s get you checked out. Food poisoning is not to be taken lightly.”

Pepper groans as she crawls on her hands and knees towards the closest wall and sits against it, in direct view of the toilet. Tony hands her more tissues and she takes them quietly. He looks to the door and then uncomfortably back to Pepper because it still smells like it. It’s stuck in his nostrils. He’s going to pass out. With his eyes on the door again, fingers tapping against his legs, Pepper speaks. 

“I’m gonna hurl something at your head. _ Go._”

Tony shuts his eyes and pulls a face. “Don’t say hurl. Don’t do it, Pep.” When he looks down at her, she wears a weak and small but present grin upon her lips, entirely too amused by Tony’s disposition. He narrows his eyes in her direction and kneels down before her, her eyes watching him as he grabs the tissues and begins to wipe the corners of her mouth. Without a word, Pepper looks at him, in that way that reveals things to Tony he didn’t know she felt about him. 

“Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he mumbles and appreciates that his love for Pepper surpasses everything he thought he couldn’t get through. He presses his lips to her forehead and sighs, standing back up and offering his hand to help her up. 

She shakes her head, shutting her eyes. “I want to wait a bit longer, just in case.”

Before Tony can answer, Peter’s yells looking for him makes him face the door. 

“Menace alert,” he murmurs, causing Pepper to chuckle. Peter calls again, takes a pause before he continues and then asks him and Pepper to stop whatever they’re doing and to respect that he is on the premises. 

Pepper shakes her head with her eyes shut again, Tony noticing some of her color returning to her skin and taking her hand when she seems to begin to stand up. Hand in hand and helping her to the sink per her request, Tony responds to Peter’s ridiculousness.

“Stop _ what_, you little—shut up and don’t eat the sushi, you hear me?”

“Uhhh, ramen? Yes?” He keeps shouting. 

“Go, go..” Pepper tells him as Tony turns on the faucet and reaches for the cabinet underneath the sink again and hands her a new toothbrush and toothpaste. 

“You sure?”

“Go. Thank you.” 

With a look to her, he walks to the door, watching her as she grabs onto the side of the sink and waves him away without looking his way. So he leaves and heads to the kitchen to find Peter in front of the fridge with a water bottle in one hand, and biting into the apple he holds in the other in full Spider-Man suit, mask resting on the kitchen island. 

“Hey, spiderkid.”

Peter turns around, drinking half of his water and settling the bottle down on the counter along with his apple. Tony heads past him to rinse his hands in the sink and Peter gets uncomfortably close to him with his big brown spider-eyes to the side of his face and then down to his hands. 

“Wha—Peter, back up, will you?” The sensor of the faucet shuts off once Tony gets his hands from underneath it and turns to Peter. 

“Who’s throwing up? That smells awful.” He hands Tony a paper towel, the adrenaline still flowing in the kid’s eyes from his night out. 

He picks up the bottle again, and then takes another long sip; Tony waits for him to be done as he throws the towel away and walks back towards the island. Casually, he puts his hand inside the front of his pockets, giving Peter a nod towards his outfit as he takes a quick scan of it. 

Peter finishes his drink and then smiles at Tony from where he stands. It unsettles him because the kid’s smile grows as he begins to slowly move towards him. “Kid?” but he doesn’t answer so Tony takes a hesitant step back because Peter begins to pick up speed and sprints, and sprints..past him. Tony, genuinely spooked by his spiderlad, turns to see Peter rushing towards Pepper. 

It makes sense. He reacts to Pepper’s presence the same way, but still. Chopped liver is all Tony is. A shame. 

“Are you okay?” Peter starts when he pulls away from his hug, “what’s with the throwing up?”

“The sushi didn’t agree with me but I’m fine. Hi.” Pepper smiles at him, inhaling a small breath as she takes in his wardrobe too. She looks up at Tony; it’s brief yet says more with the look than what she verbally expresses next. With her eyes back to Peter, she says, “you smell like..smoke.” 

“I had..the craziest night, you guys,” the kid exclaims, looking from Pepper to Tony. “And before you say anything, yes, everyone is alright and the guys..they got away but! Dad, do you remember the ATM robberies I was telling you about?”

Tony nods while moving to the peninsula and grabbing the sushi to toss it in the garbage. Pepper walks over to the peninsula and takes Tony’s seat. They are both facing Peter now, ready to listen, though Tony isn’t as excited as Peter is to tell his story. He opens the fridge and grabs a sparkling water bottle to give to Pepper, and takes his spot again standing across from where she sits, and Peter begins to narrate his night. Tony has learned it is better to listen to Peter’s voice mails and his stories than to get too involved in helping him with his Queens’ clean up. That has always been the best way to get accustomed to his son being a vigilante. 

He feels like throwing away that strategy out of the window when he’s standing across from a very attentive Pepper that sports a concerned look on her face as they both hear about Mr. Delmar’s shop going up in flames because of the weapons that Peter says are “really advanced stuff, dad.” Tony’s left eye is going to start twitching if the kid continues his story; he can feel it. 

“Everyone is fine. Cat, Mr. Delmar. Me. I’m okay.”

Tony tries to remain docile, tries to not blow up, tries not to follow all roads his anxiety and worry want to lead him to. Part of the hero gig is this nonsense. The constant danger. Part of the hero gig is also the last battle. But Tony can’t focus on that now. He’ll have an aneurysm. 

“You have to be careful, Peter.”

Because what else can Pepper say that Tony already hasn’t tried? They would rather be part of the chaos than to have Peter do it on his own without them in the picture. That’s non-negotiable. 

Peter agrees with Pepper, nodding his head and reaching for his apple, then heading to the fridge again, talking a mile a minute about the only downside being Mr. Delmar’s safety but he saved his cat _ and _ Mr. Delmar himself “so it’s okay!” He takes another water bottle and heads back to the island to face his audience and tells them that “tomorrow, I’ll make an anonymous donation to get him started on his repairs. I do feel bad about that.”

Tony stays silent. 

“From my account, dad. That emergency one I rarely use because, well, never really needed to. So, don’t worry.”

“That’s very generous of you, Peter.” Pepper’s voice is calm and genuine but Tony can almost hear the way she also tries to swallow down her panic. 

The kid takes a long sip from his water bottle and sets it down when it’s less than halfway. 

“I’ve learned from the best,” he shrugs to Pepper’s comment.

Ever since Pepper’s presence made its return, every time Peter sees her, his smile is full and bright. Tony understands the sentiment. He tries to focus on that to not dwell too much on what Peter is telling them as he grabs the mask from the kitchen island and then moves around the counter to stand behind Pepper now. He drops the Spider-Man mask on the counter and faces Peter in silence one more time. 

“I just have to figure out how they’re doing this.”

Tony is doing his best. He is. 

“Like, how do _ they _ get tech like that?”

His best seems to be faulty because he breaks his silence. 

“Kid, that’s—that’s enough for one night. Why don’t you rest; I’ll take care of it.”

“No, no dad. I—I can do it. It’s okay. This is my responsibility.”

“Peter—”

“Dad, it’s _ okay_. I promise I’ll come to you if I feel it’s getting out of hand.”

“Blowing up a deli because of an ATM robbery isn’t classified as ‘getting out of hand?’ Mr. Delmar could’ve _ died_. _ You _ could’ve—” Tony shakes his head and scratches his forehead, releasing a heavy sigh and trying to reel in his composure. 

Peter drops his head back, visibly annoyed because he knows what’s coming, because this conversation has taken place each time he has gone out and Tony is as tired of being a broken record as Peter is as tired of hearing the same song.

“No one got hurt. Mr. Delmar is fine. I’m fine and we can help pay for the damages, right?”

Tony’s heart stops for an instant because this sounds way too familiar for his liking: from Tony Stark to Iron Man. It produces a chill down his spine. He moves from around the counter again, Pepper’s soft calling of his name in warning distant in his ear as he steps in front of Peter. When Tony looks into his eyes, he can see his adrenaline still pumping, his eyes wide and bright. Enormous. Young, kind. 

“That’s not the point, Peter. You can’t just throw your money at the repercussions of your actions. That’s _ not _ how it works. There are some things you can’t fix by..throwing money at them.”

“I’m not throwing money at anything? What are you talking about? I’m helping with repairs. Isn’t that what the Stark Relief Foundation does? That exact same thing?”

Tony squares his shoulders at the question, his jaw clenched, staring at him as the kid’s eyes don’t falter when they stare right back. It’s the same path, it’s Tony’s footsteps. What a nightmare; he thought he could avoid feeling this dread, Peter doing all of this. He doesn’t know how it all builds and how it all escalates but it does right where he’s standing. Fear, anxiety, death_. _ It all clouds his mind in that moment. Because that’s what Peter is looking into if he continues down this road: fear, anxiety, _ death_. Whether it’d be his demise or everyone else’s around him. 

“You’re not doing this,” he quietly concludes and turns around, meeting Pepper’s eyes as he walks back to the peninsula and grabs the mask from the counter. He’s looking at the footage as soon as he heads down to the lab, and he’s _ going _to find these guys so that Peter doesn’t have to see them ever again. 

“You think I can’t handle things on my own? You said you’d let me do it, that all I had to do was be honest and ask for help and—and not break curfew. I’m just doing what we agreed on.” Peter speaks with a hint of hurt and loud panic coming across. 

Tony stares at the mask as he holds it, not saying anything as he straightens it in his hand. Peter takes a step towards them in mild disbelief all over his face, but everyone remains silent; he knows the kid is waiting for a response. All Tony does is slightly shake his head as all he’s held inside about this Saturday night bubbles inside of him. One simple ATM robbery gone wrong could be the defining moment of Peter never returning. Forget Oscorp. Forget Baxter. Forget _ that _ piece of work. He sees him in Charles Spencer’s smile, in Pietro’s sacrifice, in the example that Tony has set and he is suddenly so tired of the same reruns of this situation they have been handed. Something he thought he was going to be able to tolerate suddenly becomes insufferable. 

“Come on, dad. I can handle it. Tonight was just—"

“It’s not just..tonight, Peter. It’s..._No_.”

It’s Peter’s turn to square his shoulders, and Tony wants Pepper to help out but as Peter responds, he knows it is best if she doesn’t. He continues to stare at the mask while he holds it, glad he took it because he feels his hands starting to shake so he hangs the mask between them, staring right at the goggles. 

“You said you’d let me,” Peter softly answers with, full of hurt and disbelief this time around.

It was supposed to be an easy Saturday. A calm Saturday. Pepper was supposed to come from California and they were supposed to have dinner, wait for Peter, watch him eat his weight in food and noodles. The kid was supposed to come home talking about how great it is to be back as Spider-Man, go on and on about MJ, not worry about Lilah Reilly or Oscorp. Easy. Simple. But Tony’s life, be it ever so far from that.

“I _ did _ let you,” he quietly reminds him, eyes fixed on the mask in his hands.

“You gave it two weeks and you grounded me for the first one.”

“Not everything works out, Pete. I’m not trying to ruin your life, you know.”

Peter explains how well he’s doing with everything; he has kept up with school; he has captured criminals; the people of Queens have welcomed him into their community. He goes on, trying to get Tony to understand, trying to get Pepper involved when he directs his attention to her when he’s talking about the kids he interacts with and the young girls he’s walked home. He keeps saying he’s doing fine. That he is capable. 

Tony stares at the mask the entire time Peter speaks, shaking his head, mute. Risking his life and examples of how he does it not helping his case.

“I can do this—I—you can’t take it away now. That’s—Dad..I thought..I thought you trusted me. You really think I can’t handle it?” 

“It’s the complete opposite,” Tony snaps, looking at him for the first time since he’s felt his anxieties trying to take over. “It’s because I know who you are that I don’t want you to do this anymore. No. No, you hear me?”

“That makes _ no _sense—”

“It doesn’t have to make sense, Peter!” His voice escalates and Pepper jumps in her seat, shutting her eyes in resignation as Tony slams the mask on the counter, staring right at Peter, who takes a step back at the sound of Tony’s voice though Tony moves toward him, eyes fixed on him. “You’re _ my _ son and as your _ father, _ I forbid you to..sacrifice yourself like this. You don’t know what or who is doing this but if they can blow up delis, you can be caught in their antics too. I don’t need that on my conscience.” He feels his hands shaking, his heart beating, the visual of Peter too still, falling from the sky just like Rhodey, this time with less luck than him. “You’re not supposed to be on the line of fire. This isn’t your responsibility. You don’t owe anybody anything.”

Peter stares at Tony, taking a breath. His next words come with nothing but composure, and that fire in the kid’s eye that has never gone out. Not once. 

“I guess I’m more like you than you thought.”

Tony takes a step back with a shaky breath, staring at Peter and unable to speak. A very classic Peter Stark trait, to leave him at a loss for words. He watches him as if he’s never seen him before. This terrible need to be like Tony will be this kid’s undoing. Peter doesn’t stand down, though he harbors no disrespect nor hostility as he stares right back. 

He then turns his attention to Pepper from where she sits and gives her a forced, small grin, announcing he’s going to shower. When she stands, she takes the mask, Tony faces the peninsula and leans against it, his palms on the counter, shutting his eyes and trying to keep his breathing under control. Pepper offers to warm up Peter’s ramen but he responds with a solemn, “I’m not really hungry but thanks.”

Shortly after, Tony feels Pepper’s arms wrapping around his waist with her head pressed against his back. He stands straight at the touch, not missing the way it aids in helping his rising panic to come to a halt before it overflows and forces him to fall into the abyss that keeps calling to his attention. He rests his hands on top of hers, holds her in place while she presses her lips against his shoulder. 

“Can I say one thing?”

“Please.”

“Peter might be a solo act but this is undeniably, irrevocably a team effort.”

Eyes remaining shut, he takes a few seconds to gather his thoughts, but he doesn’t speak. 

“You need each other for this to work. You might not want him to do this, but he’ll do it anyway and you know it’s better if you’re part of it. If _ we _ are a part of it. It’ll be alright. He will be fine.”

Tony opens his eyes at the sound of her sure and gentle tone of voice. She’s still behind him and holding him. Always covering his six. Always Pepper. With another rattled breath, he asks her how she’s so confident in what she’s telling him. 

Her hold tightens just enough to make him feel completely in place now. Back in the room. Breathing easier. He feels her inhale a breath before she speaks matter of factly, with a nonchalance and security that gives Tony no room but to side with her. 

“You don’t deserve the alternative.”

  
  


Peter doesn’t return for his dinner; when Pepper goes to check on him shortly after she plants a kiss on Tony’s shoulder, she returns with confirmation that he is indeed alright. “He’s on the phone with MJ and Ned. Said he will be eating when he’s done. He’s fine.” Tony decides to speak with him after he’s completely cooled off. It’s best. So with that decided, they stay in the kitchen, settling to have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a couple of Peter’s juice pouches for dinner. They eat in silence, next to each other. It’s pleasant, in a quiet Tony seemed to have needed so his mind can breathe, shutting his eyes while he chewed his bites every time Pepper’s hand carded through his hair. She doesn’t demand he speaks about anything, she never does; eventually, Tony always speaks. 

He’s going to propose to her. Like, ASAP. There’s no more time needed. They’ve had all of it. He makes the decision when they finish eating their dinner and she puts her head on his shoulder while sipping on her juice pouch and then proceeds to try to share it with him, putting the straw to his mouth.

“This is disgusting,” she says, still leaning against him. 

Tony chuckles and sips on the juice but can’t have more than a sip because his laughter at her words gets the best of him. She daps her napkin on his lips when he lets some of it drip from his attempt at keeping it in from his laughter. She giggles with him and stands, kissing his temple and announcing she’s going to check on Peter before she showered. He looks her way and nods, telling her he will clean up and head to the shop. 

Time picks up speed when he gets there. He speaks to Rhodey, finding out he is doing his own research on Oscorp and links to Spider-Man. He double reads the paperwork and finalizes it for the internship program so that Pepper can look it over and sign off of it as well. Once that’s done, he heads to Peter’s room, feeling that the moment is right so that he’s not screaming and speaking over the kid. Because that’s not how they communicate and Tony just needed a moment to gain his composure. But Peter is in the shower, so through the closed door, Tony tells him if it’s alright that he comes after. Peter gives him an okay, and with that, he walks out of the room. 

It’s an hour later, music playing, with his wrench in hand and Rhodey’s favorite car under construction yet again after a faulty flight test with the nanosuit, that the sound of Peter’s voice once the volume of the music is lowered, makes him stand from where he’s sitting, head deep inside the hood of the corvette. He takes off the goggles and watches as the kid walks towards him in his pajamas, hair still damp. Long, too. It’s not too shabby. Reminds him of his own 2008 phase. 

Tony walks over to his station and sets the goggles down, grabbing the rag and wiping his hands on it with his eyes on Peter in a slightly labored breath. 

“Just came to say goodnight.”

“Okay. We can talk tomorrow, then. Get some sleep.” 

He has no idea what to say that he hasn’t said already anyway. He was planning on reiterating that his safety is what Tony is concerned about but no matter how many ways he phrases that, Peter hears it in one ear and out the other. And he doesn’t want things to escalate. Tony is tired of climbing and then falling into no results. He doesn’t want to argue, he doesn’t want to upset him either. And Pepper is right. He knows it. He has come to terms with it, but it’s the fact that Peter is part of that journey now that makes his left eye twitch and his hands shake. 

Peter nods without a word, but he doesn’t move, his eyes enormous, gently pulling the sleeves of his crewneck so that his hands are no longer visible. 

“I do and say the things I say because I love you, you know. Part of that comes with an irrevocable need for you to be safe. It’s a package deal. I don’t make the rules.”

Peter responds with subtle, quick nods.

“You get that, right?”

“I know, dad. I do. I get it.”

He then fidgets with his hands as Tony looks down at him.

“You can trust me, you know.” 

Tony can only nod because he understands. He tells Pepper this every time he has to go out in the suit, where the guarantee of his return is all nothing but Pepper hoping for it. Tony gets it; the thought of Peter taking too big a fall clouds his understanding and then all trust is shattered. 

“I do trust you, squirt. It’s the world I don’t trust.”

Peter deflates and his eyes fill with tears, but he doesn’t cry. He moves towards Tony and hugs him, his arms around his middle and Tony returns the gesture. 

“I know a thing or two about that. You used to leave too.” Peter’s voice is muffled between his hold. “But I had to trust you’d return. Whether the world collapsed or not, I had to trust that you knew what to do despite the world having a different plan for you.”

Tony just shuts his eyes and holds him a bit tighter. These hugs from the people he loves tonight are as therapeutic as they are frightening. He tries to not think about the last time he will ever do this. He tries not to. His constant fight with these thoughts alone drains him for days at a time. 

“You’re my son, Peter and—”

“You’re my dad,” Peter cuts him off, letting go then, “it doesn’t hurt any less just because you’re...in charge.”

They’re going in circles, but at least no one is altered or ready to jump into incoming traffic. 

Correct as ever, raised by one Pepper Potts and James Rhodes, Peter marks his point in the circle: it’s not going to stop. Spider-Man has just begun. “It’s hard but you have to trust me.”

Tony listens as the kid continues because it’s not just the MJ part of Peter’s life that’s going to send him into sad dad mode, it’s this. Peter, no longer five, with bigger, more concrete, elaborate opinions, and different dreams and aspirations that he can finally begin to pursue on his own. It’s watching with pride and that fear that never seems to leave a parent—what is the deal with that—about his future. Peter, standing up for himself, standing _ strong _ for what he believes in.

“You have to trust me enough..” the kid continues, slow and hesitant, talking with his hands this time. He’s careful but diligent as he speaks, “to get the job done and come home to tell you about it. I know you want to be part of all of this and I _ want _ you to be, dad. You’re Iron Man! Are you kidding me? You’re, like, the best.”

It’s the hero worship that gets the people in trouble. Flattery from Peter though, it always releases a warmth on his chest. With a crooked grin, and full of love and respect for this brave and terrific kid, Tony gives a slight shake of his head, a small breathless chuckle coming out of him. He is so grown, so wonderful as he does it too. 

“I know I can’t ask you to not worry about me, that’s something that..It can’t be done. You will worry about me just like I worry about you.”

“What a dance,” Tony comments and Peter lets go of a brief smile, but then he gets serious again, his eyes intent when he speaks next. 

“But _ trust _ that I can do this.”

With that, Tony takes a step forward and places his hand on Peter’s shoulder, squeezing reassuringly as Peter stares at him, expectant. Spider-Man wins. He just has to hope now that Spider-Man doesn’t take him to a place Tony can’t follow.

“Kid,” he begins, now dropping his other hand on Peter’s other shoulder, “let’s be clear on something: you’re more than capable of handling anything that comes your way. I trust you with my _ life_. If I was out there, staring trouble right in the face in the middle of Queens, I would not worry one bit.” He holds Peter’s gaze, doing his best to make him understand that it isn’t that he doesn’t trust him, it’s that that the world is a very unforgiving place and he’s just beginning his own journey in it.

“Yeah?” Peter smiles, big and without an inch of teasing at Tony’s words. 

“You’re seriously asking this? You’re more than capable of handling _ whatever _comes at you. Anything. You forgot? You’re my bragging point! You make me look good! Well, better. I always look good.” 

Peter chuckles. The way the spark in his eyes appears is something Tony wants to preserve at all costs. With a sigh, and vowing to do his best with the whole Spider-Man deal, Tony grins at him, gently squeezing his shoulders one last time before letting go. 

“You know I love _ you_, right?”

It really does something to him whenever Peter says those words, like a fuel to his very soul. It makes his eyes water this time around because how can the world expect of him to not lose his mind over Peter out there, in danger? This sweet kid carrying Tony’s very eyes with Pepper’s grace, ready for the world even if the world isn’t ready for him?

“Yeah?” Tony teases between his unshed tears and Peter just chuckles, shaking his head as he throws himself at Tony in an embrace. And he holds his son against him, dropping a kiss to the top of his head. 

He holds him longer than usual; Peter doesn’t relent either. 

  
  


When Tony shuts everything down in the workshop and heads to his room, Pepper is still awake when he sees her on the bed. He decides to join her after a shower. Once settled, they share their thoughts about Steve Rogers’ letter, Pepper listening to Tony dissect what it did for him, the things that rose with its arrival. That particular topic is short-lived because that’s the end of that. There’s not much to do there but get over it and move right along. So with his head on her lap as she plays in his hair, they move onto the subject of Peter’s Spider-Man time, finishing the conversation from the kitchen without the kid. He tells her he will have training sessions for Peter “because if he’s going to be out there, he will be the best one. He has no choice.”

“You told him this?”

“Damn right, I told him,” Tony answers with his eyes to the ceiling. “My last words before I sent him to bed.”

Having Pepper on his side with this is something he appreciates more than he is able to express. When she tells him about their conversation earlier after she checked on him the second him, and heard her say that, “he gets it. He gets that danger is danger whether he’s Spider-Man or a civilian walking down the street; trust or no trust, that’s something neither of you can’t change so you must take each other’s perspectives into consideration,” he decided. He’s marrying her. 

“He’s a good kid,” she says, her hands carding through Tony’s hair. She’s been doing that a lot lately and he will make a note to tell her to continue doing so until his dying day. 

“Pepper, this..energizer bunny of a child gets supersoldier-like abilities and decides to go out in his pajamas to try and save the world.”

Tony closes his eyes and welcomes the small chuckle when he pictures him in that suit he made himself. He asks FRIDAY to pull up footage and as they begin to watch Peter in his old suit, Tony’s sense of pride betrays him because he is reminded that Peter is young, agile, and completely capable of doing this. He’ll accept that this is as close as normal as their lives will get. He won’t fight him on it anymore. Or as much. 

“We can’t push him away because he’s already proven he’ll be out there with or without your consent,” Pepper softly tells him, his eyes still on the screens that play the footage of him stopping a car from crashing into the bus. 

“Fricking underoos-looking suit will never make a comeback,” Tony says under his breath, making Pepper chuckle while they watch Peter’s YouTube footage from old suit to the new one in nothing but admiration. He’s more than capable. More than Tony has ever felt himself capable of being.

  
  


**Track II**

  
  


The next morning, Tony is the first one up and heads down to the lab, thinking about knives and bullets and Peter all in the same sentence. Thinks about the sort of things Peter will need in a suit of armor, safety measures. He updates the Iron Spider. Creates the noise-canceling headphones, specific glasses in the events of a sensory overload mishap. Builds thermal sweaters for the winter, with actual heating systems in them. Nanotech for the win.

When Pepper and Peter come down to eat lunch, the kid with three chairs and Pepper with the food in her hands, they make space at Tony’s table so they’re able to eat comfortably. The conversations are light, Peter excited about the internship guidelines being finalized so that he can get Ned started on his application because “we have some great ideas for you, Mr. Stark. We’re gonna blow your mind.”

“Good because your name will get you nowhere. You impress me or you’re waiting until next year.”

“Keep up with your grades and a letter of recommendation and you should be alright,” Pepper comments as she brings her forkful of salad to her mouth, her eyes on Peter. 

“Ned and I are between the top 3% to 5% so that will hopefully remain the same unless I don’t pass calculus.”

Tony points his fork at Peter, swallowing his bite. “A’s are a reflection of your work ethic more than anything, kid. I know you got it.”

“I do,” Peter says, stuffing his mouth as he looks down at his plate while scooping more greens before he moves on to his noodles, “I have the number one _ dad_, Pepper enthusiast, philanthropist, genius, billionaire—in that order—helping me out next week!” 

When he looks up, he gives Tony a lip closed smile with his cheeks full of food. Pepper covers her eyes with her hand because her amusement gets the best of her, her laugh giving her away. 

“You’re gonna sleep outside tonight,” Tony retorts after a beat of silence. Peter then laughs, full and bright, covering his mouth. Tony goes back down to his plate, shaking his head and quickly lifting his eyes to Peter sitting across from him. 

The kid waves with a smile and feigned innocence and that have Pepper and Tony both laughing when he does it. 

Moving right along, Peter continues to talk about his friends and MJ, asks Tony to have Ryan for drop off only, that he’ll Spider-Man his way out of school since his last period is free and he’s helping in the drama club. “I can meet Ned at his place after.” 

Trust. So Tony makes a note to speak with Ryan about drop off.

Peter carries on about the plans they have for the summer when they’re not working for SI “because we’ll be there like I said” and everything and anything that comes to mind. Tony delights in the fact that Peter is able to talk about anything to either one of them. Halfway through the hour, as Peter is eating his leftover noodles from last night now, Pepper makes a request that stops Peter short when he hears it, his chopsticks stopping midway towards his mouth.

“I can do that, yeah. No problem,” Tony cooly assures as he leans back against his chair and wipes his mouth off the salad dressing. He drops his napkin beside his plate once he’s done.

The kid stares at Pepper, wide-eyed and glancing between her and Tony while they carry on into other topics of conversation as that one seems to be resolved. Pepper doesn’t pay much attention but Tony can’t miss the way Peter remains still and then sits up on his seat and clears his throat. 

“You want..alerts?” Peter begins, still in that mild state of shock while looking at Pepper now, “from Karen to be sent to you too?” His eyes land on Tony’s for a moment before they return to the culprit of the shock.

Pepper gives Peter her undivided attention when she responds.

“Is that...Is that alright with you?”

“Yeah. That’s—you don’t have to..do that. It’s not...Are you sure? I mean, dad has me on a pretty tight watch. You’ll be getting notifications every three minutes.”

Tony grabs a grape from the small fruit bowl Pepper brought for dessert and throws it at Peter, which the kid effortlessly catches with his free hand without moving his eyes from Pepper. 

She snaps her head towards Tony, warning him with her eyes. 

“I regret nothing,” he tells her, chin up and sitting back against his chair. Peter looks his way, laughter in his eyes as he pops the grape in his mouth. “Show off,” Tony then mumbles. 

Peter sticks his tongue out at him in the midst of his smile and Tony reciprocates the gesture. 

“You’re both so ridiculous.”

Peter giggles as he turns back to Pepper and picks up his chopsticks again, full of noodles. Pepper rolls her eyes in that feigned annoyance she carries so well and tells Peter that it won’t be an issue being on the “call list. It’ll be good, right?”

She looks at Tony when she says that, looking for confirmation, with the small shrug of her shoulders. Tony nods her way as he picks up his sparkling water and Pepper turns back to Peter.

“That’s..thank you, Pepper.”

She smiles. Peter does too. Tony grows even more in love with them, as the team they are and as their very outstanding individuals

“That means you’ll behave better for sure. So yeah. Pepper’s going on the call list.”

“Funny,” Peter squints his eyes at Tony and he returns the look with a smile, Pepper chuckling while going back to her couple of pieces of pineapples on her plate. 

“In the spirit of requests,” Peter begins then, swallowing his bite and setting his chopsticks down, locking his hands as he pushes his plate forward; he sets them on the table, “I have one.”

“As in..?” Tony questions, casual, mimicking the kid’s posture.

“Driving.” The spiderkid says this carefully as he gives a tentative smile Tony’s way. 

“As in..?”

“I would like to drive.” His smile falters with slight disbelief.

“As in..?”

“Me, behind the wheel as soon as I’m legal to do so.”

“As in..no.”

Peter’s mouth falls open while Pepper turns to Tony with a look. 

“He’s, like, ten!” He defends his point with vigor to cover up that he just isn’t ready! Spider-Man, MJ, and now driving? Where is the time going? “Anyway, that’s what Ryan is for.”

“Why can’t I drive? You drive! _ You _ used to drive _ Happy _around not too long ago, which is a poor use of job description if you ask me.”

“I’m tellin’ him you want him fired,” Tony says in one quick breath, sitting up and pointing his finger at him.

“Don’t even joke about a thing like that.” Peter mirrors his movement in the same tone, his face serious when he does. 

Tony goes back into his chair, slightly reclined against it and breaks into a small grin, really looking at Peter and aching at the clear evidence of time in his face. He looks at Pepper for help, who doesn’t say anything in the matter. She looks at him the same way Tony does. Without sharing a word, she turns to Tony and asks the question without having to voice it: Where is the time going? How is this even _ happening_?

“I passed the written test. Driver’s test is next year and I really want to at _least_ have the option of being allowed to drive.”

“You’d get things done with or without us, wouldn’t you?” Tony asks.

“I’d like to do this one with you,” Peter jokes, a grin spreading on his lips when he says it. 

He stares at Peter, mumbling that “yeah, you’re a Stark that way.” Tony sighs and then looks at Pepper again, who has always been the deciding vote on a lot of Peter-related decisions. They’re both completely in love with this kid, and where his mind can’t function, hers moves flawlessly. It’s a great system. God, he loves her. 

Pepper gives Tony a hopeless look, bringing her knuckles to her lips to cover that soft smile she wears, and as he continues to mutely communicate with her, he catches her eyes welling up, proud of that menace that is their Peter. 

Too much affection. Too much love. Parenting is the _ worst_. 

“We‘ll figure out how to work around it so that you’re well protected while you drive but sure. You can drive,” Tony concludes, Pepper turning to Peter and chuckling when the kid’s eyes widen comically, and then his smile creeps in as he leans further on the table, eyes on Tony. 

“You mean that?”

“Yeah. We’ll go around, parallel park and all that. Maybe have Rhodey in the car too.” 

“Oh, guys—that’s—thank you! I promise I’ll be careful and—and everything!”

Tony gives a single nod, popping a grape in his mouth. 

“Especially since the only good driver in this family will be the one teaching me, right Pepper?”

Tony stills, deadpan expression towards his traitor of a son.

“Right,” Pepper agrees, and they high five. 

“A-D-O-P-T-I-O-N.” Tony leans towards him with his palms on the table as he loudly spells the word out to Peter. 

Peter gives Tony two finger guns with a wink in return. 

Pepper smiles into her glass of sparkling water as she brings it to her lips.

  
  


After they finish eating, and Peter helps Pepper clean up by bringing plates and chairs back upstairs, they return to the lab where Pepper sits by Peter’s station. More accurately, she sits next to Peter on top of his table. Peter has his camera in his hand, talking and filling Pepper in around the lollipop in his mouth while sitting crossed-legged on the surface of his table, Pepper lightly swinging her feet back and forth as she is leaning over to see the pictures Peter is showing her on the camera. The kid took charge of the playlist, and while Tony isn’t a fan of most of the tracks that play, he adds a few alt-J tracks to his list. They seem to be Peter’s newfound musical obsession. 

He catches their interaction when the conversations circle back to Helen Cho’s medical staff, making sure FRIDAY captures the moment. He grins back down to what he’s working on from his own desk and indulges in the atmosphere he’s currently in. 

When Tony stands and walks over to them with the Starkpad’s screens opened with configurations on all the new tech he’s going to present to Peter, excluding the Iron Spider, he also holds the headphones along with it. Pepper refocuses her attention towards him as he approaches. “So, Dr. Julia is part of her medical group?”

Tony nods at her question though the kid answers her with details, opening the screen for Peter to specifically look at the heating system in the clothing. He hands him the headphones once Peter closes the screen and hangs the camera around his neck as Pepper watches him put the earbuds in, expectant and intrigued. Tony takes the Starkpad and sets it aside, asking FRIDAY to initiate the sequence of sounds he wants to use to test the device, the music stopping at his instructions.

“And?” Pepper asks when Peter turns to her. 

The kid takes his lollipop out of his mouth and then shouts, “WHAT’D YOU SAY?” startling Pepper into chuckles. Tony has FRIDAY run a couple more tests, and as expected, the earbuds work perfectly so Peter takes them out and looks at them in his hands, nodding in approval. “Dad, awesome stuff. Thank you.” He puts them in their case and hands them back to Tony.

“They’re ready. Take them.”

Peter does with another thank you, setting them next to him on his seat and continues to enjoy his lollipop, putting his fist out for Tony to meet with his own as the music picks back up. As he does, Pepper jumps down from the table and stands by Tony. The kid picks up his camera and begins to snap pictures of the two of them as they stand before him. 

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing, Iron Man?” Peter says and when Tony looks at Pepper, she’s making faces and giving Tony bunny ears. “Pretend like you wanna be here, come on. Vogue,” he instructs.

Tony stares at Peter, harboring no expression but feeling all the giggles inside of him. When Pepper puts her nose to Tony’s cheek, it breaks him just enough to let a smirk appear. He looks at her, and his smile pushes through when he does because she smiles too, sticking her tongue out at him and almost touching his nose with it. 

“Pepper, hey—Pep, stop it,” he chuckles out as he backs up when she tries it another time. She laughs, promising no more teasing as he moves back in next to her. His smile welcomed. Always welcomed when these two are the cause behind it. 

“Thereee we go, Mr. Stark. Goooood.” Peter keeps snapping pictures as Pepper smiles in that goofy way Peter does, where he bares all his teeth without holding much amusement. Tony can’t help but stare and begins to give in to his laughter when Peter begins to instruct Pepper on poses for her to do because she does them. 

“Despair! Anger! Happiness! Solemness! Triumphant!” 

And when Peter calls for, “CEO! Brilliance! Beauty!” she doesn’t change her poses and holds her smile for all three shots. Coming back from his laughter, he shakes his head and looks between them as he speaks.

“I can’t have you in my place of work. Get out.”

Peter jumps down from the table and Pepper kisses Tony’s cheek, while Peter then turns the camera and takes a selfie with them. The kid then takes his lollipop out of his mouth, gives Tony a loud kiss on his other cheek and walks out with Pepper in conversation as Peter shows her the pictures he just took. Tony watches them for a moment, until they’re out of the shop, and then turns to the screens again, light on his feet and playing one of the songs he just discovered from Peter’s selection.

He pulls up the schematics for the Iron Spider and spends all afternoon working on that, pausing when Peter comes down with a snack and later on with a goodbye when it’s time to go out as Spider-Man. 

  
  


**Track III**

  
  


An entire week goes by with nothing new on the radar. School is coming to an end in a few weeks, Peter is working between Spider-Man and his final projects, asking Tony for the weekend to be spent at Ned’s, in which he will also be going over there after school until the year is over. Tony will have to think about the sleeping over part but might let him do it; it’s easier to already be in Queens since the end of the school year has been a lot more demanding than usual. The kid is so occupied that when Thursday comes around, he asks Pepper to have a virtual lunch date instead of dinner. “Patrol and photography project _ and _ I finally know what to give dad for his birthday and have to work on it.” Pepper had told him they can always reschedule, but Peter seemed adamant to make it work. So it’s no surprise to him when Pepper walks into the kitchen that Thursday while Tony is finishing up his dinner as she tells him that Peter “called me during his lunch hour—”

“Video call?”

“Video call,” she nods, “headphones in and sitting outside by the bleachers.” She sets her keys on the counter, her hair pulled back in an elegant ponytail and a sparkle in her eye as she continues and says that, “we talked and he ate his sandwich and I ate my kale salad during the entire lunch period.”

It’s evident to anyone that is paying attention how much that meant to Pepper, for Peter to prioritize her that way. She doesn’t say anything else as she proceeds to take a seat on the stool across from him with her elbows on the counter and resting her chin on her hands. 

“What’d you talk about?” Tony asks as he picks up his plate and sets it in the sink. He returns back to his side of the peninsula, standing, ignoring the e-mail notifications he’s receiving on his watch. 

“Classified.”

“Classified?” Tony lightly chuckles out, bringing his green juice to his lips with his eyes on her. “You know, if we get married, you’re practically obligated to tell me everything, especially regarding the kid.”

“If we get married?”

Tony sets his glass down and clears his throat, trying to continue to pretend he’s got everything under control. He fixates his eyes on her, questioning her with them instead of words. Pepper tries to contain her smile as she calmly stands from her seat and walks around the counter over to him. Tony is always floored when she does that; it always brings him to his knees at her complete mercy whenever she moves in her perfect grace with that beautiful grin that says a thousand words. All he’s able to do is sit on the stool behind him, now looking up at her. 

“Even then, those conversations will still be classified.” Pepper drops her hands on Tony’s shoulder, gliding so that now they’re locked behind his neck. 

“Yeah?” With his hands on her waist, Tony asks the question with nothing but a look. He’s fascinated that this is a form of communication between them.

“Oh yes, so be sure to think about this one. Take your time.”

“Oh, I’ve thought about it. I’m sure.”

Whenever she bites her smile the way she does now, Tony has to fight the urge to kiss it right off her just so he can indulge in how truly endearing and altogether lovely she is. With a kiss to his lips, in her most reserved excitement, he knows they’re on the same page and it has very little to do with Thursday night conversations with Peter. 

Like they need time.

  
  


Tony checks on Peter before he heads to bed. Patrol was particularly dull in Queens tonight so he was able to make it home without many stories and work on his calculus and Spanish reviews for his quizzes tomorrow, so Pepper and him are thankful for that. When he enters the room, quiet enough to not wake him, he finds Peter on his bed, asleep with all his work around him, on him, on the ground. The tea Pepper made for him sits on its coaster on the night table, now cold and seeming untouched.

“You might need a haircut after all, spiderling,” he softly says as he removes the glasses from the kid’s face, quietly and carefully tidying up around him. 

He picks up chemistry work, about a dozen pictures, some of the same shot but clearly different edits, and even sees the calculus final exam review with Peter’s work next to it, alongside the quiz review sheet from earlier tonight. With a grin on his face, he shakes his head and picks up the chemistry textbook, the pencil from the bed, the quiz review and circles the equations that aren’t correct, labeling them all “try again.” A very pleased Tony Stark remains either way when he flips through the pages and sees Peter understood and followed Tony’s techniques with the rest of the problems. 

“Smart spiderling. Very good.” 

Setting the rest of the things down, he tucks Peter in without waking him, kisses his forehead and pushes his hair back from his closed eyes. He takes another look at him, walking out shortly after. 

  
  


**Track IV**

  
  


Pepper is in the shower when Peter walks into the kitchen, frames on his face, hair still damp from the shower and slinging his bag over his shoulder. Tony looks at him from his mug of coffee, giving him a headnod after that delicious first sip. 

“¿_Desayuno_?”

“Late. No time.”

“_No estuvieras tarde si te levantaras temprano_, _mi querido_ _Peter_.”

“I did wake up on time. I was working on something this morning, _ hombre lata_.” 

The sarcasm and mockery? The sticking out of the tongue? Uncalled for. Is he proud of it? Yes. He raised him right. He brings his coffee to his lips again with an, “oh?” and shuts down the screens he opened from the Starkpad. 

“Yeah.” Peter sets the page of the calculus homework on the counter with corrections and new answers to the three problems Tony pointed out last night, but they seem to be wrong again. Tony looks over his work as Peter walks to the fridge, grabs a water bottle and then a juice pouch, then walks back to the island. 

“_¿Lápiz?_” Tony asks with his eyes on the paper and his hand stretched out for Peter to hand it over as they stand next to each other. 

“For real?! Come _ on. _I did everything you told me!”

“Uh..” Tony looks at his watch and then to Peter as the kid is looking for a pencil in the front pocket of his bag, “_Tienes tres minutos para explicarme como llegaste a esta respuesta. _Go.”

Peter stands next to Tony and begins jotting down the problem again right next to his answer, narrating as he goes. He breaks down the equation, moves all his variables to their right places, locates his mistake and retracts then continues when it’s cleared and then Tony sees what the issue is when he’s finished with the problem. 

“Wow, a minute and fifteen seconds. You know this, by the way. You just rush through it.”

“It’s wrong, isn’t it?” Peter asks while looking at him and tapping the pencil against the counter as if Tony said nothing of importance. He takes the pencil from him and uses it to point to the areas he refers to while he begins to explain. 

“_Ambos logaritmos tienen coeficientes de uno, ¿correcto_?”

“Uh-huh,” Peter answers, turning his eyes to the paper and then to Tony, “use the fact and solve for z,” he says with his eyes on the paper again, and then he looks at Tony with eyes full of answers and epiphanies before they both simultaneously say, “quadratic formula,” though Tony says it in Spanish. 

“Oh, man. Finally. Thanks, dad,” Peter mumbles as he sinks into finishing his work and when he’s done, he grabs Tony’s face and plants a big, loud kiss on his cheek. 

Tony feigns being displeased by the gesture through it and tells Peter to cut it out as the kid then shoves all his things into his bag and blows a chef’s kiss in Tony’s direction with the words, “Mr. Stark for president!”

“Study sessions are over. Now, go Underoos. Late. Remember?”

Peter slings his bag over his shoulders as he holds the apple between his mouth. He stops moving altogether and raises an eyebrow in question at Tony. If the kid didn’t look so much like Mary, he would’ve sworn he was staring in a mirror when Peter looks at him that way. With a “yes?” and picking up his mug of coffee for a sip, Peter takes a bite out of his apple and begins to head to the elevator with Tony in tow, shaking his head with a comment about Tony’s nicknames getting out of control.

“Don’t forget I’m at Ned’s this weekend,” Peter reminds as he spins around and walks backward towards his destination.

“How could I forget something I did not approve, spiderbaby.”

“I have to finish my projects! Preferably before_ they’re due_, dad. It’s easier if I spend the weekend over there. I’ll be done by Sunday, before dinner.”

He still isn’t quite sure but being unable to distinguish why he relents. He will have Ryan and Mark watch over the Leeds’ place for the weekend. He’ll make the call as soon as Peter leaves. When he enters the elevator, he takes another bite out of his apple and fixates his eyes on Tony as he stands before him.

“Watch has to be on you, so go get it. Stop _ not _ wearing it, Peter. I’m not asking you again.”

“It’s in my bag, it’s in my bag. Sorry.” He unhooks his bag again and reaches for it, grabbing it and asking Tony to please put it on him as he takes another bite of his apple. 

“I’ll have Karen notify you guys when I’m on patrol and when I’m on my way back to Ned’s.”

“You be careful. I mean it.” He points his finger at him once he’s done adjusting the watch, no wit nor play in his tone. “And behave.”

“You insult me.” 

“Peter,” Tony speaks with a warning in his tone this time.

“I’m just kiddin’,” Peter drags out of his lips, rolling his eyes with a grin on his face and stepping out of the elevator. “I’ll behave and call and keep you updated on everything.” He nods, standing in front of Tony, tall and teenager and inducing headaches for Tony. 

“You better,” Tony surrenders in a mumble and kisses Peter’s forehead when the kid leans his head forward for him to do so, a brief but tight embrace taking place right after. “You menace,” Tony whispers as he lets go and Peter walks back into the elevator with a smile and brings his apple to his lips. 

Before the doors close, Peter stills and tells FRIDAY to hold them, getting out of the elevator once again and sprinting past Tony. He doesn’t ask him what he’s doing because he can hear Pepper’s surprised “hi sweetheart” from the kitchen. He tries to not let his smile begin to hurt his cheeks, ducking his head as he puts his hands inside the front pocket of his pants. See, because a lot of things are broken and Tony cannot repair them, but this..this life and these people..these moments he can surely cherish and appreciate. 

  
  


**Itsy Bitsy Stark**

**Attachment: 1 image**

**Me mudo a República Dominicana MAÑANA**

**Why there?**

**Um, ¿playas? ¿Arena? ¿El SOL? Hello? **

**Y porque mi espanol es *chef’s kiss* **

**I’ll say. **

**Nice work. **

**An A+, well done kiddo**

**Now..for the big reveal….**

**Drum roll pls **

***does it***

**Omg you did it **

**You DO love me **

***sharp inhale***

**Lmaooo you love me!!!**

**But ALSO…..**

**They should change calculus to..**

**Wait for it………………**

**Attachment: 1 image**

**Petermatics **

**Wow**

**Petermatics? Really?**

**That’s the best you come up with?**

**Hey I got a B+**

**Solid 89**

**I can say whatever I want **

**Now all that’s left are the big finals**

**Fair enough**

**Nice work, kid**

**Proud of you**

**Proud enough to change curfew?**

**Always proud of you.**

**Nice try, though.**

**:D**

**Not happening.**

**-__- **

**Yay me**

**Exactly right. Yay you. **

  
  


Pepper and Tony decide to spend the weekend at the compound with Rhodey, where they keep tabs on Lilah Reilly and see to it that she is alright and alive. Only changes they noticed has been that her shifts are mostly night shifts now. Other than that, nothing seems out of the ordinary. When they continue to do research through Rhodey’s lines of access, they find out that Oscorp was the cooperation that put the order to arrest Spider-Man when the opportunity presents itself. It tells Tony two things: one, Norman has no idea that Peter is the guy in the mask and two, maybe Baxter was working on his own after all. It always causes Tony migraines to think about all of this without a concrete solution or clear answers that lead him somewhere. So he continues to research, though he finds nothing else other than what he already knows. Dead ends and Jonathan Baxter’s sudden passing being an “accident”. Caused by fate and misfortune. Tony reaches a point where he doesn’t want to keep poking the bear. Because if Oscorp wanted to, they would go after Tony, seeing that he has connections to Spider-Man but they seem to be aware it’s a fight they won’t win. 

Good. Tony hopes they remain inadequate at their attempts to get Peter. 

  
  


**Track V**

  
  


Limbs were added to the Iron Spider that Saturday morning, and after that, he takes up Pepper's offer to spend the day out with her in the city, Happy close behind. They laugh and talk, and walk hand in hand in Central Park where they get stopped by a group of teenage girls who want Pepper’s autograph. The way her face lights up in surprise is something Tony wishes Peter was around for so that he could capture it with his camera. Her hair is down and her freckles come out with the sun shining on her face. 

They come across Avengers Ben and Jerry’s flavored ice cream. The no dairy streak is in jeopardy. 

Halfway through their dinner, they both receive a message from Peter about the picture of them holding hands trending on Twitter and Instagram, links attached to Peter’s jokes regarding the discovery he made while being Spider-Man. 

“Hashtag Pepperony summer,” Pepper says with amusement in her words, eyes on the phone as she shakes her head with a small grin on her lips when she reads Peter’s messages. 

“I hate that app,” Tony says, bringing his sparkling water to his lips, “the hormones are raging on there. There are absolutely no restrictions.”

Pepper smiles at her phone and then sets it down after she’s done typing. She sighs with a grin and a look his way. 

“Too much attention for you? You’ve finally cracked?” She brings her forkful of food to her lips as she asks, her eyes bright and vibrant as she turns her eyes to him again. 

“Me? I’m talking about the squirt.”

She nods in remembrance. “The panic of 2016. People expressed their adoration for Peter in ways you didn’t quite appreciate. That was an interesting Monday, yes.”

“It was way out of line. Almost clawed my eyes out.”

“Mm,” Pepper says, finishing the food in her mouth, “have you seen the ones about you? They’re worse.”

Flattering or not, Tony still hates that Twitter app. 

  
  


“These two guys were gonna steal a car but I took care of that aaaaaand walked a few girls home from the bus stop.”

Vision has been away the entire weekend once Tony arrives so he is sitting with Rhodey and Pepper, comfortable and in the common room as they hear about Peter’s day. Ned chimes in on his part during the hijack of the car, Pepper listening to everything as Tony makes sure things are under control and they are both okay. 

“It was a slow Saturday,” Ned comments from where he is. Peter is laying on his stomach on Ned’s bed, frames on his face and his nod of his head confirming Ned’s words. 

“If I could stay out past midnight on the weekends it wouldn’t be so slow, right Ned?”

Tony can see Ned at his desk, moving side to side on his spinning chair while wearing the Spider-Man mask with his laptop on his lap. 

“Right.”

Peter smiles with false innocence to the camera and it’s Pepper the first to decline the suggestion, Tony smiling at Peter, smug and proud at her response. 

“Killin’ me, guys. Ya hurt me deep,” he sighs. 

  
  


**Track VI**

  
  


Tony sits at his desk after he and Pepper and make the rounds around the tower once their board meeting is over. He doesn’t miss any CEO related..anything so the quarterly meetings are more than enough. Besides, Pepper is running things with the grace he would never have mustered in a thousand lifetimes. At his desk, he holds the picture frame of Peter and him one Halloween dressed as Charlie and Santa Clause from that Santa Clause movie. He chuckles when he looks at it, the first time in years he was able to go out trick-or-treating and not be recognized because of the Santa costume. Pepper made sure they both looked authentic, what a trip. It was also the year that Peter officially decided chocolate was the way of life. He laughed so much that day, it was the last good holiday before the palladium started eating him from the inside out.

His adoration for that terror grows immensely as he stares at them surrounded by candy still in their costumes and sitting on the ground, trading chocolate for fruity candy and Tony setting down rules and schedules for him to eat his goods at a moderate rate. JARVIS had captured the moment, per Pepper’s request in her absence. 

_ “What about the weekend? I can have as much as I want then, right?” _

_ Tony sits with the beard under his chin, counting his pieces with the lollipop in his mouth and talking around it with his eyes on his chocolate, he responds. “Uh, no? You can have whatever I allow you to have, kid.” _

_ Peter looks up at him, wig off and kingsize Kit Kat bar being cut in half in his tiny hands. “But, I’m gonna lose all these teeth. They’re not staying! They must go out with a bang!” He stands then, chocolate in hand, still in full costume. Timbs and the nineties pair of jeans Pepper was able to acquire really completing the costume. He looks at Peter and can instantly see the scene they are referencing. All they need is the latter and the reindeer and they’re all good to go. _

_ “With a bang, dad!” _

_ “Are you gonna eat that whole thing?” _

_ Peter drops his arms and takes two steps towards him, rolling his eyes and giving Tony the other half of his Kit Kat bar. He takes it with a smile and a thank you. Peter sticks his tongue out at him and Tony returns the gesture. _

_ “Whoa, your tongue is blue! That’s cool!” _

_ The kid comes closer to Tony, sits in front of him, and begins talking about the chemicals and the reason his tongue is able to turn that color, his hands on either side of Tony’s face. He can feel the chocolate on his cheek, but his fascination with Peter’s sudden focus and lack of respect for personal space distract him long enough to not freak out. _

_ “Stick your tongue out again.” _

_ Tony does. _

_ “In.” _

_ Tony does. _

_ “Out. In. Out. In. Out. In out inoutinoutinoutin!” _

_ “Something_—_tells_—_me _ —_this_—_isn’t_—_for_—_science_—_anymore! Aha!” He speaks between Peter’s requests as he complies and stops when the kid begins to laugh so much he falls back, mesmerizing Tony at the sight as he is now laughing along with him, in a breathless, adoring way. _

_ “You _ twerp_. Go wash up. I’ll clean up here,” Tony says, laying down next to him. _

_ “Don’t eat my chocolate,” he calls out, standing up and running to the stairs, “I’ll be able to tell if you did!” _

_ “Sharing is caring, Peter James Stark!” Tony calls after him from the ground. _

_ “I don’t have to share my chocolate to show you that I care!” His voice is distant but his point is made either way. _

“Hey, are you ready?”

Pepper enters the office then and Tony sighs, taking the picture frame in his hand and standing from his chair. He meets her at the door and briefly kisses her lips when he’s before her. 

“What’s that?”

He shows her the picture and she smiles at the sight of it, taking it in her hands. 

“I loved this ensemble,” she comments while looking at it, “Peter has really grown, hasn’t he?” Her eyes focus on Tony then and he lifts his eyes from the picture as well. 

“He’s killing the game while at it too.”

Pepper chuckles at his response, hands Tony the picture and opens the door. With a look back at him while biting down her smile, Tony follows behind her. In love with her, with his son, and in that moment completely and genuinely in love with his life. 

  
  


**Itsy Bitsy Stark **

**Say, wise spider…**

**What’s your take on marriage?**

**If you don’t marry Pepper, I’m running away. **

**That’s my take. **

**Don’t tempt me**

**I’ll break up with her right now.**

**Comedy is not your thing**

**Stick to cleaning up the planet**

**But yes. Marry. **

**I’m on board. **

**100%. **

**Yes. **

**Do it. **

**We’ll talk about it tonight.**

**You and I.**

**How’s the schoolwork coming along?**

**#pepperonytiestheknot**

**#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**I’ll be in my room PROMPTLY after dinner. **

**This is important**

**Don’t be late**

  
  
  


Tony picks up Peter from Ned’s himself after he drops Pepper off at her mother’s, where she will stay until Tuesday to get Lily’s nurse settled and leave her at ease. After he relieves Mark and Ryan once they are debriefed on the weekend activities, he makes a mental note to ask Peter how he went out as Spider-Man without the guys finding out. They also mention to him that a girl that could only be MJ when they describe her was with them during the weekend as well. 

Surprised? No. 

Scared? Maybe. 

Resigned to the impending doom that Peter will have to grow and maybe fall in love and move out and have his own life and Tony will miss him and cannot believe this is part of the whole parenting journey? A journey that is as exciting as it is crippling him with nostalgia already? And it hasn’t even happened? Sure. 

Parenting: not for the faint of heart. 

Tony likes Ned’s parents. They don’t see Tony Stark, the celebrity, they see him as Tony Stark, another parent of a genius teenager, emphasis on “teenager.” Majority of his liking towards them is due to the fact that they raised Ned Leeds and Ned Leeds is an outstanding extension of them. They don’t mention or hold his past against him when it comes to Peter or anything for that matter. Peter helps a lot with that; he’s a real nice kid, and maybe the credit goes to Pepper and Rhodey more than it does to Tony, but they don’t know that and it’s nice to not be slandered for a change. It’s a breath of fresh air every time he interacts with them, and so with a thank you and hoping Peter didn’t cause too much trouble, Tony waits for Peter to finish his handshake with Ned, waving goodbye to the parents and thanking them again. 

“You got your work done?”

“Most of it, yup,” Peter answers, his bag on his shoulders as he pushes his frames back up to his nose while looking down at his camera. “Chem is finished. Just some final touches and voila.”

As they reach the car, a small crowd has gathered outside taking pictures of the vehicle and then seeing the owners, followed by a mild freak out on their part. Tony puts on his glasses then. 

Peter waves shyly at the small crowd gathered by Tony’s car as he opens the back door and then gets inside the passenger seat. Tony does the same as he walks around the car and drives off as soon as he can. The nicer it is outside, the more people there are in the neighborhood. He also needs to speak to Ned’s parents about letting Tony up security for them because the kids are both known and though Tony doesn’t always make appearances at the Leeds’ residence, the times he has, this has happened. 

“I gotta show you the pictures I took yesterday. These shots are fantastic.”

“You’ve got an eye for that, so I'm sure they’re real good.”

“You think so?”

“I tell you this all the time, stop it with the pretense.” 

Peter chuckles at Tony’s response with an, “I know you do but you know!”

“No, I don’t,” Tony answers, stopping at the light. 

“You never know,” Peter concludes with a casual shrug.

“_I _ never know or—”

“I’m gonna stop you right there, Iron Man. Not doing this. Not on an empty stomach, nope.” 

With a light chuckle, and his eyes focused on the road again, Tony asks FRIDAY to pull up directions to “that Italian restaurant with the three-layered chocolate cake.”

Right as FRIDAY pulls up the address for the location he saved on file, Peter receives an incoming call from Pepper. 

“Pepper! Dad is buying dessert for dinner!“ 

“Make sure it’s super chocolatey, that’s the only way you’d enjoy it.”

“You and I have one mind,” Peter responds, and then turns to Tony with a, “you heard the boss.”

Tony shakes his head with a grin on his lips and continues to follow FRIDAY’s directions.

  
  


It has been a while since Peter has been out in public with Tony. Pepper and he do more local appearances than the two of them do. Peter is like Tony in that way; they like to be inside, they like to not be bothered, and the crazy cameramen have gotten crazier since the older the kid gets. Outside the country, Peter and Tony are one thing. Locally, that’s Pepper’s territory. On Thursdays. Unless they order in. 

So the behavior from the public is expected, more or less. 

It’s pretty standard, especially in a crowded place like this. On a Saturday. In the city.

They get to the restaurant and recognition is immediate. They get seated and by the time the bread comes to the table, a couple of eight-year-olds approach the table for autographs and pictures. Peter takes the photos, aiding the kids in their Iron Man pose. It always brings Tony great satisfaction giving his attention to the kids that struggle to breathe at the sight of him; it’s always good to make them feel at ease. 

It’s the adults that he has trouble addressing altogether. 

Because there are always two sides to the celebrity coin. One side takes place outside when they are waiting for the valet to bring the car. It’s in moments like these he sometimes misses Happy’s unapologetic way of pushing back on the people that do this. He’s learned to block it out, but this hasn’t happened when Peter is around. Not so vividly and so loud, to the point that the small crowd that gathers outside in the line waiting to be seated has to be addressed by the security of the restaurant. 

Tony places his arm around Peter’s shoulders, noticing how the kid tenses up, and inhales a deep breath at the touch. He quietly asks Peter if he's alright, in which Peter nods as he reaches for his cell phone in his jacket. Tony’s mind is focused on FRIDAY’s scannings that he quietly initiates on the people around him as he casually looks around, and then continues to stare at the people in line who seem to start addressing Peter. He stares, scanning and he knows his scowl is growing because they seem to stumble the longer he stares. He’s about to say something when security comes again with who appears to be the manager of the establishment, and now is refusing to seat the people who security points out. 

“Hey, dad. Dad. Look here.”

Tony looks down at Peter when he calls and blinks twice as if to reset his mind to focus on what he’s looking at. When he sees the front-facing camera of Peter’s phone ready for action, Tony automatically leans down so that he’s cheek to cheek to Peter, lifting his glasses up into his hair and smirking into the camera. Peter’s eyes widen in that endearing way of his and sticks his tongue out, capturing the perfect shot and Tony’s probable new background for his phone. It’s an excellent refocus. He appreciates it. 

He spots the car coming around the block when he looks down the crowded and loud street, and that’s when the other side of the coin is flipped yet again because the people that walk by and catch onto the crowd that’s being broken up form their own when, 

“Holy shit, that’s Tony Stark! Dude, Kyle, it’s Iron Man!”

And that sets another crowd in motion, bigger and louder when the car finally arrives and people begin to cheer and shout “Team Iron Man!” and the vintage, “I love you, Tony!” as he walks around the vehicle and opens his door, catching Peter wave shyly at the people waiting in their own line to get into the show across the street, loudly and unashamedly clapping for them as Tony takes care of the valet with a discreet handshake and tells Peter to get inside. 

“That was fun,” Peter breathes out as Tony drives off in silence. “You okay?”

“Are _ you_?” Tony looks at him when he stops at the green light, 42nd around this time nothing but people. Everywhere. Not caring about the cars that have to make a left turn. It’s a nightmare. Every time. 

Peter nods. “Don’t be mad. This isn’t exactly new.”

Tony glances at Peter in mild surprise again and the kid shrugs, all too casual with what he just said. Tony fixates his eyes on the road again, almost clear so that he can make his stupid turn. 

“Yeah, someone always has an opinion that somehow needs to be shared with me.”

Tony tightens his hands around the steering wheel, sudden anxiety knocking at his door. It’s been a few days. It’s right on time. The aftermath of it all waking the beast. Aces. 

“People come up to you? Where?”

He mentions sometimes people yell their unwelcomed opinions when he’s making rounds as Spider-Man in Queens, and there are anti-Iron Man upperclassmen in his school. 

Tony drives because he can’t even imagine the things they say to Peter so he doesn’t try to. 

“It’s whatever. The ration is still 2 to 1.”

Without a word, focused on not hitting New Yorkers that just throw themselves at the cars, he pulls a face, bringing his eyebrows together and glancing at Peter. 

“The few people at the line of the restaurant and the crowd from across the street _ plus _ the pedestrians that recognized you while we waited for the car. One head voices its hate, two more raise up and praise in place. There’s no math.”

From the corner of his eyes, he sees Peter is focused on his phone while speaking, sounding way too nonchalant about what he just experienced, about what he’s saying. 

“These people have no idea who you are. That’s a shame,” the kid says, more to himself than anything by the hushed sound of his voice. Tony doesn’t say anything and it’s not for lack of trying. He has nothing to say on the matter, though Peter’s words always seem to do a number on him. “There’s always that one guy who holds the past to the light like it’s what’s taking place now, you know, because change apparently is a myth and humans are incapable of reaching the other side of it. Imagine how tired we are.”

Tony is stopped at the red light, blatantly staring at Peter, distractedly speaking as he continues to type away on his phone. 

“Anyway,” Peter sighs and looks at Tony, “if you ever wanna laugh while being simultaneously scared to death, let this happen when MJ is around.”

Tony stares. 

“Dad. Light is green.” 

And then the loudness of New York City and the horns behind him reenter. It’s almost unfair, really. How out of all the much better people in this entire universe, _ he _ended up with one the best kids in the galaxy. 

  
  


It’s about an hour later after Tony tells Peter once they’re home to get comfortable and ready to chat before he hits the streets as Spider-Man. He’s sitting on his bed when the notification from Pepper comes in. It’s a link to Peter’s Twitter page and the headlines picking up on them. There is a brief mention of the people on the sidewalk and their comments about Tony and his parenting; there’s an article on BuzzFeed about Peter’s response to people of New York, with screenshots of the links of the Tweets he is sure are the ones Pepper sent out. He might have to give his account a jumpstart instead of using just to see the pictures Peter posts. 

The article is well paced and funny in its own way, and apparently supporting the father-son duo the public agrees Tony and Peter have mastered. “‘_Irondad’_? Lordy, that’s gonna stay,” he chuckles out, feeling giddy as he reads, eyes glued to the screen. He has never been interested in any of this, and he doesn’t come across these often because Peter has never been one for public appearances. Tony made sure he wasn’t plastered on the media 24/7 and so far it has been working. They know very little about the kid, per Tony’s wishes and Peter’s, who made it clear he liked things this way when Tony discovered his twitter page mostly contains pictures the kid has taken himself: landscapes, ice cream, candy, his Japanese cuisine obsession, his family. Most of them captionless and linked to his Instagram account. 

So when he’s reading the article, after seeing the video of the person that captured some of the action from across the street, he makes out the shouting and chanting of Tony’s name as the article goes on about Tony as a revealed and unashamed father, about Tony hiding his soft side until Peter’s arrival, but “_one doesn’t just become a big softie overnight, does one, friends? Nope. This just means that this Iron Man always had a heart, and I don’t know about you, but I had a feeling that was always the case..._” They mention Pepper, curious to know if she also gets to experience that side of him. This dinner made it big on BuzzFeed, and to his shock, he is quite enjoying it. It’s when they reach the screenshots of the Tweets that Tony’s heart speeds up. Because there is the picture Peter and him took while waiting for the car. With a caption above it. 

**@peterontheweb:**

**I see you, dad. That’s all that matters. A life full of love, ya lollipops! #Starkpower #teamIronMan **

Unable to stop rereading and staring at the picture, Tony makes an executive decision to click on the replies below, and the first one he sees is Rhodey’s. 

**@WarMachineRhodes @peterontheweb:**

**You’d have to be blind to not see it. Nothing but good MEN. #NothingButLove #StarkPowerAllDay #TeamStarkNerds #IApproveThisMessage**

**@TheRealPepperPotts RT: @WarMachineRhodes @peterontheweb: You’d have to be blind to not see it. Nothing but good MEN #NothingButLove #StarkPowerAllDay #TeamScienceNerds #IApproveThisMessage**

**@HHOGAN @TheRealPepperPotts @WarMachineRhodes @peterontheweb:**

**It’s a sweet life with the Starks boys**

**@peterontheweb @WarMachineRhodes @TheRealPepperPotts @HHOGAN:**

**#starkfamforthewin #nuffsaid**

“So, what’s up with Pepper? When’s the wedding?” Peter startles Tony when he enters the room without making a sound, his ninja ways sharper since the spider bite. He’s in full Spider-Man gear and adjusting the webshooters while placing his mask on top of the dresser. He walks around the bed and sits on the ground by Tony’s side, crossed legged and his head barely visible. 

He wears a casual grin and Tony looks down at him from the bed, confused and trying to formulate a proper sentence so he can hopefully get a proper answer. 

“If I can’t sit on the couch with the suit on, imagine what Pepper would do to me if I sit on her bed? No, thank you. I want to make it to my high school graduation.”

He understands then and so he locks his phone and sets it on the bedside table, then gets off the bed and joins Peter on the floor, sitting across from him, close enough so that he can grab Peter’s face between his hands. The fondness and love for him do nothing but grow and consume Tony whole. It’s indescribable the way Tony’s heart can hold so much for Peter. 

“Uh, dad?” the kid tries, his words coming out muffled and confused as he stares at Tony, though he doesn’t try to get out of the grip. 

“You’re a really good kid, you know that? Have I told you that today?”

“Uuuhhh—”

“I’m proud of the person you’re becoming. Have I told you that today yet?”

“Uh, dad? What—”

“I love you _ very _ much, have I said that today?”

“Everyday,” Peter manages to say and making Tony’s mind go haywire because he cannot believe he’s living this life with this kid. This one. A really good one. “You okay?”

Tony doesn’t smile though his insides are all giggles, and warmth and _ love_. He stares at Peter, nods at his slight concern and plants a kiss to his forehead. Then he lets go.

“Should I be worried?”

“Nope! Just making sure you knew those few things,” Tony clarifies and sits back, leaning against the mattress to support his back with his legs stretched out and feet crossed at his ankles.

“Well..Uh, love you too. Thank you. And..thank you. Glad you’re..proud.”

Tony grins at Peter’s gradual shyness. Then the kid inhales a breath and claps his hands as if snapping out of it. “Now, don’t stall. Tell me. Pepper. Marriage. Go.”

With a ruffle of Peter’s hair, he stands up and walks over to his dresser, takes off his watch and opens the drawer. He places it in its proper case and proceeds. “Well,” he says, taking back his spot on the floor by Peter and looking ahead, straight at the wall. And then he turns to look at the kid and continues. “It all started when I was called by my accountant to double-check my numbers.”

They both end up face up on the ground, clouds on display and conversation full of excitement, confessions, and a Pepper loving fiasco. They speak about her official welcome into the Stark family, about the lakehouse Tony found, not telling him he already purchased it. When he mentions Upstate locations, the kid protests about moving but then jumps on board when Tony proposes remaining trips to school in the quinjet before the summer starts. 

“You tell Pepper yet?”

“Nope. Gonna trap her into marrying me and then she’ll have no choice but to come with me. Done and done. Next.”

Peter laughs as Tony smirks to the sound and their silly responses to each other, the subject of Pepper’s union to Tony one of the best conversations he’s had with the kid. Peter, mature and engaged in the matter at hand, handling it with the proper attention and sensitivity it requires. His little terror is now a full time teenage terror. 

“I’m picking the ring tomorrow. You wanna help? Richard is coming by with them for me to check out. He can only bring a few at a time, and me showing up there would somehow get to the press. I need this to be a secret until I tell Pepper myself.” 

“Right, you don’t want her to find out you’re proposing before you propose simply because Twitter connected all the dots.”

Tony turns to Peter, who is keeping his eyes to the ceiling in complete ease. “Right…” He needs to bring back his Twitter presence. He’ll do it tonight, starting with a retweet of the kid’s post. 

Peter sits up in a sudden hurry and looks down at Tony. “Did you say I can be here when you pick?”

Tony nods as he looks at him. “I can pick you up from school. That's cool?”

“_Yes_. I’ll just go to Ned’s after. 2:45. Be outside.”

Tony chuckles with his eyes to the clouds again, Peter then lays back down and Tony closes his eyes at the surprising enjoyment in this particular silence. 

“You’re one exceptional young man, you know that?”

“You raised me,” Peter responds with. 

“Sure, but..I have a feeling..in this lifetime or whichever, you were built to be like this.”

“Built like..how?” Peter's voice is small and curious, almost wide eyed and so young at the moment.

Tony, in his tiredness, gives a half shrug with his eyes closed and simply answers with, “just..._really _ good.”

  
  


The kid goes to his Spider-Man duties, leaving Tony on the phone with Rhodey, and shortly after, he’s on the phone with Pepper and speaking about the “farm, simple life.”

“You’re serious.”

“I am.” Tony is sitting on the couch, phone to his ear and Pepper eerily quiet on the other line. He leans back against his seat and closes his eyes, shaking his leg, anxious and—

“Upstate, have you looked there?”

He stops shaking with his hand over his eyes, and the smile that gradually grows on his lips with the peace that Pepper can so easily invoke locks itself into his very soul. 

“I have. I actually found something. Let’s go see it.”

“Is it for sale?”

“It’s not for sale. I—I bought it. It’s done. Just have to furnish, add security guidelines but it’s done. It’s ours.”

The silence comes into place again. 

“Does Peter know? What about his school? Tony, you can’t just..”

But Tony isn’t listening as much as he is smiling, still in the same posture, and feeling as if he just went back in time, where their banter and bickering occurred around the clock. Now it’s a bit different. When they do it, he can kiss her afterwards. It’s the only way to let the tradition live on.

  
  


When Tony wakes up again he’s on Peter’s bed, his dreamless sleep confirming how tired he must’ve been to doze off in the middle of the conversation with the kid after he came home from patrol. But when he looks around, Peter is nowhere to be found and so, he sits up asking FRIDAY of his whereabouts. She tells him he’s making his way back from the lab as Tony begins to head out of the room. 

“Patch me through, FRIDAY.”

So Tony’s voice goes around the entire penthouse, telling Peter he has 30 seconds to get to bed or he’ll pick the ring without his help.

  
  


After Tony changes into more comfortable clothing for sleep, he makes one last round to check on the kid and finds him asleep, a mess of blankets and limbs everywhere. 

**Track VII**

With his glasses on as he ends the call with Richard after his arrival is confirmed for tonight, Tony finish his glass of water and continues munching on a bag of blueberries as he has FRIDAY read Pepper’s text message and respond to Rhodey’s, who wants a picture of the ring as soon as he picks it. Heading to the trash to throw the empty bag of goodies, FRIDAY sends a notification to his watch informing him that Peter’s was just activated. He’s going to have to talk to the spiderboy about the rules with the watch, especially when he doesn’t have Ryan on duty. 

Keys in hand, he begins to head to the elevator when it opens to reveal Ned, holding Peter’s bag as the kid slowly seems to be done adjusting his watch on his wrist. He wears a cap, low enough so that his face is somewhat covered and his blue hoodie is dirty, with hints of dark spots in the front of it.

“Hey, what the hell?” Tony moves over to them as they step out of the elevator, Ned dropping his bag and Peter’s to the ground, wearing a worried expression on his face when Tony looks at him. 

Peter walks over to the couch in slow, careful pace and in silence as Ned tells Tony about Peter and him going to Queens via Uber to get part of a project that apparently couldn’t wait for Tony to stop by and get it when he picked up Peter from school. 

“Okay, but it's not even 2:45 yet. How were you in Queens and back already?”

“Well...Our last class is a free period, so instead of drama club, we went back for the piece of the project.” Ned is as nervous as he probably should be. Tony tries to remain calm. Everything can happen so quickly. How is he this worked up in matter of seconds?

“Still, that’s only 47 minutes. You couldn’t have made it there, gotten hit by a car, and back with time to spare to try to sell me on this”

Ned looks at Peter and Tony looks between them as Peter slowly and cautiously adjusts against the couch once he sits. When he takes off the baseball cap, Tony can see the bruise on his cheek, the cut on his lip and the purple that seems to be healing already around his right eye. 

He stands straight at the sight, anger the first thing bubbling inside of him. 

“Ned,” he demands while staring as Peter struggles and holds onto the side of his stomach.

“We—”

“Ned had a doctor’s appointment today, he wasn’t in school. I skipped the last two classes. Don’t be mad at him.” The kid speaks with restraint and winces as he finds a perfect position to recline against.

Tony drops his head with an exhale of a breath that he clings onto because he must remain _calm_. He asks FRIDAY to get medical to the penthouse, but Peter cuts him off, telling him to cancel the request. “Please, dad. I’m fine. I just need a minute.” 

Tony doesn’t respond because if he makes too great a move, he’ll explode. And he knows he’s not going to explode out of anger but this stupid fear of Peter’s safety being in jeopardy that chokes him on sight. So he slowly turns to Ned and thanks him for bringing Peter back, telling him he’ll have Mark take him home; he gives Ned no option when he tries to tell Tony he’s alright to take public transportation. Ned says his goodbyes from where he stands and Tony walks him to the elevator, talking when they’re standing by it. 

“I’m lowering my voice, not because I want this conversation to be kept between us but because if I raise it, I might not find my composure. Because I know he can hear me.” 

Ned slowly leans to the side to look over Tony’s shoulder, and his eyes widen with an awed grin coming across his face. “Awesome,” he breathes out. 

“Ned!” Tony yells his name in a whisper and Ned stands straight dropping his amazement and his eyes back on to him. Tony sighs and looks at Peter over his shoulder for a moment. “Just...Go home. Straight home, you hear me? No Peter tonight.”

“I’m assuming no Spider-Man either?”

“What do you think?”

“Right,” Ned responds, dejected. “Mr. Stark,” he begins in the same whisper as Tony was speaking before, “it’s not as bad as it looks. He was defending his name. Yours, actually. No one saw if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Tony just rubs his hands down his face and drops his hand on Ned's shoulder, telling him to let him know as soon as he gets home. Ned gets in the elevator and Tony presses the button to stop it before it begins to close. 

“You alright? What did the doctor say? Anemia any better?”

“Oh, it was a general check up. Anemia is no more. I’m good.”

Tony nods, thanks him again for bringing Peter in and they fist pump. Tony stands in front of the doors as they close.

“I’m fine. Just gotta sleep this off. Give the healing a boost,” he calls from the couch, “no medical team needed.” In his defense, he does sound more at ease so Tony turns back around and walks over to him. 

“We’ll talk when medical gets here. Don’t move. You need anything?” 

“Don’t call medical, please. I promise I’m fine. Already healing.”

He stands over Peter, hands on his waist, anxious. His anger has turned into nothing because it was panic he was trying to suppress so he replaced it. The kid looks okay, all things considering. He’s leaning back against the couch, holding onto his right side, and Tony can see his cut on his cheek slowly closing up as Peter asks him to not call the medical team one more time. 

“Please.” 

“Head injuries?”

The kid shakes his head. Tony waits. Peter looks up at him with a tired and somewhat successful smile. Tony nods without a word and the kid visibly relaxes then; Tony remains standing, watching him. He doesn’t know if he’s taking it all in or if he’s just unable to move. Or if he’s really taken back by the way the healing process takes place right before him. Or just grateful that he’s able to heal on its own. 

“Your heart is going mighty fast,” he softly tells Tony, closing his eyes.

“I swear, Peter,” he starts, snapping back and deciding to do something. Shaking his head, he walks to the kitchen to get the ice packs from the freezer and first aid kit Pepper put under the sink in case Tony decided to cook unsupervised. Pepper 1 trillion, Tony 0. When he walks back into the living room, he sits on the edge of the coffee table and opens the kit while grabbing rubbing alcohol pads, starting to clean the blood from his lip first after putting on gloves. Peter shuts his eyes with a faint hiss of discomfort and nothing else. “I feel like you get paid to get reactions out of me,” Tony quietly tells him, watching as his cut closes right before him. He’ll never get used to that. “Do I have to remind you that you’re a billionaire? I can give you full access to your trust fund if it means you quitting the day job. Please. This is no way to live, kid.” 

He cleans the blood off from his cheek next, and Peter just wears a small grin at the sound of Tony’s offer. In silence he continues to help him, handing him the ice pack, which Peter applies to his bruised eye. He checks for other injuries and after a while, the kid is able to sit up better, though he still gives a slight wince when he does. 

Tony gathers everything up and cleans up around him, taking the gloves off after he stands and throws away the garbage. Once that’s done, he returns to the same spot on the coffee table, staring at the kid whose eyes are fixated on the ceiling. No one says anything while Tony contemplates what to do next, how to handle this. His mind goes back to his own father, who would either not care in the slightest or would shout and scream and assume the worst of Tony if he came home like this, interrupting his time. Ducking his head, trying to get the best sort of solution out of this, he asks FRIDAY to hold his calls. 

“I wanna shower, is that okay?” The sound of Peter’s serene request takes Tony by surprise, “after I shower, we can talk. Can I just..shower first?”

Tony nods and stands on his feet to help Peter up, and already he’s standing up straighter, with less pained sounds coming out of him. He walks Peter to his room and heads back to the living room, dropping on the couch and informing Pepper and Rhodey, assuring them everything is fine and he will find out what happened. If he withholds information from these two about Peter on something like this, he will never hear the end of it. But also..having them as back up in case of a mental breakdown serves him peace in this climate. 

Giving Peter his time built up too much anticipation, so he goes to check on the kid and finds that he fell asleep after his shower, clouds on display above. Standing over him, he asks FRIDAY to scan him, be sure he’s okay. FRIDAY clears him but he’s not quite satisfied, so he steps out of the room and calls Dr. Julia, who assures him and reminds him Peter’s healing factor is at his utmost capacity when he’s asleep; his body will ask him to give in to it when it deems it necessary. A lot more at ease, he then proceeds to instruct FRIDAY to ask Jenna to please make a few cheeseburgers and fries, the whole nine for when the kid wakes. 

He calls Ned after, and listens as he gives him pieces of the reasoning behind Peter’s condition. Tony’s throat closes and he shares nothing but a thank you to him again. He cancels Richard’s visit afterward and heads back into Peter’s room, sitting on the desk chair. He reaches for his chest, his fingers sneaking through the gap between the two buttons of his shirt where his scar is, where it always greets him. 

  
  


“Dad, hey.” 

Tony sits up and immediately regrets it; the way his neck cracks and hurts will last a long while. He feels the misery sinking in. Peter is standing straight, in his pajamas and his face almost entirely back to normal. Struggling to adjust to the light, only his right eye is able to look up at the kid. 

“FRI, low lights, please. Thanks,” Peter calls out. Tony groans, hand at the back of his neck and standing. “How was the slumber?”

“Don’t ask. How are you feeling?” He inquires this while moving his head around a couple of times and then focusing on Peter. 

“I’m okay. I’m sorry I fell asleep after my shower. I remember setting up the room, requesting clouds and cleaning my bed," he looks around and with a confused grin on his lips, he turns back to Tony, "the next thing I know, I woke up to you all slumped on the chair.”

“Don’t sweat it, kiddo. You’re alright, though? You sure?” Tony searches in his eyes; most of the time he can tell if he's really okay just by looking. Peter nods, telling him Jenna left food prepared for them. 

“Burgers. Cheeseburgers. With curly fries. I could cry. I’m not gonna but I could.”

“Go ahead, I’ll meet you there.”

Peter nods and heads out of his room, Tony checking the time and messages left by Rhodey and Pepper. It’s almost 8 o’clock with no word to them from either one of the Stark boys. R.I.P Tony Stark. 

  
  


They enjoy their burgers in silence until Pepper and Happy show up to the tower with Vision and Rhodey. A visit to Peter, no questions or accusations being thrown. Dinner and good company. 

  
  


**Track VIII**

  
  


Per Tony’s decision, Peter stays home from school the next day. No Spider-Man will take place for another day either, just for Tony’s peace of mind. He knows Peter can heal and he has, but just to be entirely sure that he is completely back to normal. After breakfast and letting Peter know he will be out until dinner time, he receives a call from Midtown High informing him that Peter only showed to his first two classes yesterday and hasn’t shown up to school since. Tony explains his stay at home for the day but gives the disciplinary dean to apply whatever consequences need to be in place “except suspension or expulsion, if you could, please.” 

They haven’t spoken or even addressed last night either. Tony knows he’s a lot calmer today and he’ll be able to hopefully have a conversation with him. He’s got Ned to thank for because if he didn’t have some sort of idea as to why the kid came home in the condition he did when he has superstrentgh and is able to snap anyone like a toothpick if he wanted to, he would’ve been in perpetual distress. But he must exercise his trust, something Pepper reminds him of when he’s on the phone with her.

“Right, right.” He leans against the wall with his head down outside her office, which is empty. Because she’s not here and won’t be until tomorrow. She wants to be sure Lily’s nurse is comfortable enough, but Tony knows it’s Pepper’s comfort that’s seeking validation. 

“So, I’ll send you the organizations and shelters Peter brought to my attention.”

“Yeah, we spoke last night about them. I’ll make the donations as soon as I get in contact with their finance department.”

“Good. Call you when I have the scoop.”

“I’ll call before he goes to bed. Wait up.”

“Will do.”

  
  
  


When he walks into the penthouse from discussing guidelines regarding the summer internship positions, the faint sound of music coming from Peter’s room catches his attention. The same tune he’s also been humming for the last couple of weeks, those few songs Tony added to his own playlist. After heading to the kitchen for bottled water, he makes his way to Peter’s room and stops short when FRIDAY sends her a notification about Spider-Man’s appearances last night and earlier today. He stares at the door, alt-J’s _ Left Hand Free _ playing right after _ Breezeblocks_. 

He knocks on the door, not waiting for a response as he opens it ajar and pops his head in. His relief is palpable when he sees that familiar head full of brown hair swirling around in his room on his rolling chair. Pictures spread out on the desk, hanging on the wall by his desk, on his bed where his old suit is also laid out. Tony stands in the room with his hands in his pockets and waits for Peter to notice his presence. He does almost immediately after when he rolls from his desk to the bed to grab a couple of pictures. 

“Oh, hey,” he greets, taking off his glasses and rolling back to his desk, touching the keyboard on the computer that apparently controls the whole surround system in his room. “You’ve been there long?” he asks when he turns back around to face him.

Tony shakes his head, not moving from where he stands, looking around the room as Peter stands from his seat and walks towards the bathroom, talking to Tony all the same. 

“What’s up? How were your meetings?”

“Oh, you know. Good.”

“Yeah?” the kid calls out from the bathroom, “internship positions ready?”

“Impress me, Stark, or you’re not getting in. Spread the word to Ned.”

Peter comes out of the bathroom wearing a grin and places his glasses back on his face, telling Tony he will pass the message along. 

“So, FRIDAY sent me a notification about some weird activity going on,” he starts, nonchalant and almost uninterested as he watches Peter grab his seat again, gathering the shots he has by his laptop. 

“What kind of weird activity?” He turns back around in his chair towards Tony, stands and rushes over to him. “Is it a mission? Are you asking me to join you? What’s the situation? What do we—”

“No, kid. Hey, breathe. No.”

Peter’s shoulders slump with a small, “oh. Okay. Then..?”

"Just..a quick question of the rhetorical variety."

Tony grabs his phone from his suit pocket and with his eyes to Peter, he clicks on the link FRIDAY sent.

And the hologram shows Spider-Man in his suit, handing the kitten to the little girl, Spider-Man running towards the buildings, Spider-Man scurrying off, crawling on the nearest building and disappearing into the night. 

“That’s not _ you_, is it?” Tony asks with his answer in the question, teasing, but honestly not really sure if it is him; the build is similar something doesn't seem right.

Peter watches the clip in silence, caught off guard by the way his eyes look as if they're about to pop out of their sockets and his mouth snaps completely shut. The replays of the part when Spider-Man runs and then is visibly seen climbing the walls seems a bit off, less smooth than usual. Still though, credit where credit is due. “Because if not, then look at this guy go. You’ve got competition. This guy here has mad skills.”

Peter drops his face into his hands with a small groan and then lifts it, calmly and composed walks to his bed, gathers the pictures that lay on the right side and neatly sets them aside to then proceed to drop on the open space.

“I told him to be super lowkey.”

“I’m sorry, what? Who is in your suit? Crawling the walls? Is there something you’re not telling me that I should know?”

“It’s Vis,” Peter drags out from the bed, “and he’s not crawling. He’s hovering and moving like he is.” The kid sits up at the sudden silence from Tony and looks at him, shoulders slumped again. “He’s been covering for me since last night. I told him to stay lowkey but well. He’s in a red spandex suit. It was a long shot.”

Tony walks up to the bed and sits next to him, quite frankly not knowing what to say. So he doesn’t speak.

“I asked him when he came last night if he could, explained why it was important. It covers everyone: Queens and my identity.”

With a look and nothing else, he asks Peter to elaborate, and the kid does, explaining that what happened in Queens to Peter Stark would take a while for him to recover from, so Spider-Man had to make an appearance that same night to throw any suspicions out the window. Spider-Man makes appearances while Peter Stark “recovers. The guys that..they recognized me. That’s why..But I’m fine. I don’t remember their faces so..”

“You’re just saying that so that I don’t go looking for them,” Tony speaks calmly, his eyes straight ahead, staring at nothing in particular.

“Even if I did get to see their faces—” which Tony knows he did— ”let this one go, dad, okay? Please.” 

He’s tired but he’ll listen even if it’s eating at him. So he simply nods, his hands loosely together on his lap as he stares ahead. He remains quiet. It’s a good plan, Vision going out. He has to trust Peter, so he continues to exercise that.

“Alright.”

“Al—alright?”

Tony nods to Peter’s hesitation then turns to him. “I understand. Good call with Vision. He’s a team player.”

They stare at each other, Tony watching as Peter seeks Tony’s promise to leave the incident alone and he seems to find it because the kid breaks into a small, relieved smile. With a lopsided grin of his own, he leans back as if to get a better look at the spiderbaby and brings his palm to Peter’s forehead, pushing his hair back. The kid lets out a small chuckle, shutting his eyes at the gesture. 

“Curls look good, Underoos.”

Peter gives Tony his goof of a smile, all teeth bared up at him. Bringing his hand down, Tony exhales in his most casual breath that he “spoke to Ned. He told me what happened. Some of it.”

Peter looks down and gently presses his fingers into his left palm. With one eye open towards him, he looks up at Tony.

"He told you everything, huh.”

“I wanna hear what you have to say. Think Vision can drop off the suit tomorrow morning?”

  
  
  


Peter and Tony sit by the peninsula, finishing dinner with Pepper and Rhodey on a shared video call. It’s good; Tony always enjoys Peter’s laughter, especially when it’s followed by Pepper’s. Rhodey’s the first to go and Pepper follows almost immediately after, leaving dessert to the Stark boys. Snickers bars and a few grapes for Tony. 

“So,” Tony says as Peter takes his first bite out of his candy bar, “enlighten me. Ned said he found you around the corner of Mr. Delmar’s, after the fact. You told him some guys hit you? I don’t follow.”

Peter nods, eyes focused on the candy bar. He sets it down and stands from his seat, heading to the refrigerator and grabs a water bottle as he begins to explain. 

Skipping school after his second period required an Uber which picked Peter up and dropped him off at Mr. Delmar’s, where he was going to wait for Ned to meet him there. 

“Your watch was inactive but it said you were in school when I got the notification. Explain.”

“Left it in the locker. We stopped by the school. Ned went in to pick up the work he missed work grabbed it for me before we came here.”

“Where were you gonna go if Ned wasn’t home yet?”

“I, uh, texted him,” Peter opens his water bottle and avoids eye contact. “He was on his way back when I texted him. He was gonna get dropped off at home,” he says and then takes a quick sip of his drink, “Mr. Leeds was gonna head to work and then, you know.” He shrugs as his big finish. “We had it covered,” he concludes. 

Tony remains silent as Peter takes his seat across from him, hands around his bottle, nodding and not quite finishing. Tony knows something else is missing in the story. It doesn’t..make complete sense.

He’s going to see how far he can trust Peter. So he stares, squinting in disbelief and then speaks. 

“After all of this, I’m sending you to military school.” 

Peter scrunches his face, shutting his eyes and then opening just the one with a small “sorry.”

“Continue.”

He does, telling him about the small crowd around Mr. Delmar’s construction site, and Mr. Delmar himself being there, talking and answering questions to the few people that had them. Peter was passing by, trying to go undetected because “Peter Stark? In Queens? By himself? Red flag.” The kid speaks with ease and is all too casual. Tony doesn’t want to interrupt, saving his questions for a later time because skipping school? Ubers on his own? In broad daylight? Walking around in Queens? Without any security? Risking being seen? He’s short of an aneurysm. 

But Ned’s words from yesterday then make more sense because when Mr. Delmar mentioned Spider-Man, Peter felt compelled to answer back to the slander, so he did. “They were talking so much crap about you and Spider-Man’s link to Tony Stark.” Peter says his name mockingly, with feigned high praise. The kid spoke on behalf of his father, not thinking anything of it “because it’s broad daylight. What could happen! So I said my portion, and this guy and I went back and forth for a little. Didn't want to call for the attention so before I got caught though, I said my piece and walked away but the guy and his friend followed me.” 

Tony feels his heart pick up in anger when Peter tells him they chased him into the alley he ran towards once it became obvious they were after him and “had a ball. I couldn’t defend myself because they realized who I was after the cap fell from my head. They ran because they know some way or another, you’ll find them and that’ll be the end of that. Which you won’t. Leave it alone.”

Tony stares in continued disbelief as Peter tackles his candy bar after, unaware of anything around him in that moment. So Tony inhales a deep breath and shuts his eyes for an instant, deciding to approach one thing at a time. 

“You skipped school?”

The kid finishes his bite. It sounds ridiculous even saying it so he waits for Peter to answer. 

“It was..Yeah. I did.”

_ “Why? _”

Peter doesn’t answer but his eyes don’t falter as he stares at Tony. He asks him again but the kid seems at a crossroads. 

“You’re grounded,” is all Tony says without exploding, still in his state of shock. “No electronics. No lab. No internet. No chocolate.”

Peter drops his head forward with a small groan. 

“I’ll reinstate chocolate if you answer me. Why are you skipping school? You don’t skip school. What’s going on? Do I need to go talk to somebody?”

When Peter lifts his head up, he answers with, “Gregory Danes.”

That’s when Tony sits back and does a double-take at him. “Come again?”

The kid rolls his head with a much fuller groan and then places his palms on the counter, eyes on them as he begins to speak. 

“Second period is History and Politics. Ned wasn’t there and neither was MJ. She had a college tour yesterday, so I had to sit in that class and listen to all the..bull about the accords.”

Tony slumps a little, thinking he might have an idea to where this conversation is going; Peter lifts his eyes and fills the gaps and starts with the heated discussion that came about when the Accords were part of the lesson, the kid talking about how he watched his class literally split 60/40 in favor of Tony’s decision to sign the document. “I was quiet, just..listening to all of it happen. They brought up civilian casualties, and then Gregory Danes opened his big mouth.” The grapes are long forgotten and he completely locks in when Peter says the other boy’s name like it personally offended him, which it sounds like he did; Peter let the words “Tony Stark is a con artist” and “his personal gain from all of this must’ve been astronomical” and “Captain was too good to be part of that ploy” hit him a lot harder than he was able to handle. 

“Did you..”

“I didn’t say anything..But then, Liz..kinda sided with him.” Peter lowers his eyes, his chocolate bar almost finished when he gently plays with the wrapper of it. 

Tony gives him a slow nod and remains quiet. He waits for Peter to pick up where he left off as he mentions how Betty jumped in after that, and brought facts about Tony’s work around the world, inside the Avengers and all he does with Stark Industries for the public. Abe, funny kid, Tony remembers him from decathlon, asked Gregory to name the personal gains Tony could've possibly gained from signing the document. He was the one that prevented Peter from stepping in by saying that “Tony Stark was trying to give the people a say in the matter of superheroes and entries into battles.” It gained ground but the opposition, though smaller in numbers, were hanging onto Tony’s past and Captain America’s perfect record. “It became ‘team Cap’ or ‘team Iron Man’. Split right down in the middle. Whatever I said or didn’t say didn’t matter because you’re ‘my dad’ and I’m ‘biased.’ So I walked out and left as soon as the bell rang.”

“I’m sorry, kid.” He has nothing else that would do at this moment. 

“They talk like they were there, but they weren’t. They don’t know the real stuff, you know?” Peter looks up at Tony, shaking his head before he looks away, and Tony can tell he has more to say when he turns back around to face him, eyes down and a slight shake of his head. 

“I hear you, Pete.”

Peter looks up and attempts to speak, but he can’t seem to find the right words. His mouth opens and then closes and in the end, he shakes his head with a humorless grin with his water bottle in his hands. 

“Come on, spiderbaby. You can tell me.”

When he looks up at Tony, there is no humor in his eyes, his face serious, the small crease in his forehead building as if he’s in pain. Minimal, but present. He lowers his eyes again with a sigh and a shake of his head.

“Hey, Peter. What is it?”

“I want to say something,” he says, eyes to the counter, calm and almost careful, “a few things actually, and then we can drop this.”

Tony nods, watching the way the kid lifts his eyes again and says, “we’ll..move on after this and put it behind us.”

He doesn’t respond, watching the way Peter ages 20 years before him in an instant. 

“Is that alright?”

At his question, Tony moderately spreads his arms over the counter, indicating he has the floor. And he takes it. 

It’s a calm affair when he begins, one big, and long soliloquy about the team not being a team, about Steve Rogers putting his faith in people but never in Tony; he provides examples, all poised, strong and direct. Tony realizes as things unfold that Peter read the letter Steve sent and that the opportunity he didn’t take in the classroom yesterday is being taken here, across the counter with half-eaten snickers bars and a few grapes for dessert. He speaks about trust, how that was never reciprocated by the team either, “not really.”

Peter’s views and observations hurt because he breaks everything down the way Clarisa would in her sessions when she was trying to help Tony understand that not everything is his fault, helping him work through his guilt, his impending damage that started when he was six and his father made him question why he even had him if Tony was such an _annoyance_. She did not like it when he referred to himself in those words. 

But he felt like it, right in his chest. 

It’s hard to move on from that, but by Odin and Thor, and hell, even Loki—she tried to teach Tony he was anything but a burden. And Peter dissecting things like this is eerily similar to that, to Clarissa pointing out what’s okay and what’s not, even if Tony thinks he deserves to be treated the not-so-okay way. 

“It’s complicated, at _ best_, but the least he could’ve done was to exercise his trust, his ‘faith in people’ with _ you. _ You _ were _ his people.” 

To that, he doesn’t respond because that cuts him, it reopens things Tony doesn’t know if he’ll be able to remember and not feel his heart clench at the thought. Because resentment, yes, it has a way to live within him, hiding in such a way that it turns into a self-hatred that can wipe out all he loves without even trying. Because at the end of the day, something’s wrong with Tony. It always comes down to that. 

“He didn’t treat you like a friend. He didn’t. He walked out on you. He walked out on all of us.”

It’s hard hearing this from Peter because his heartbreak is also on his sleeve. Tony knows that look, recognizes that tone in his voice. He's been there too many times to count.

“Peter..” Tony looks down at the plate before him, touching the rim with a knot in his throat because this he certainly was not expecting, “I know where you're coming from. I hear you, kiddo, and I’m sorry it came crashing down like this on you this but it’s like you said. It’s complicated. It goes beyond Ultron and Accords. It’s no longer about that.” When Tony finally looks up, his voice quiet, Peter is holding his gaze with a sudden sadness that hits Tony in his stomach, to the point he lets out a subtle gasp, clearing his throat then and sitting straight.

“I think it’s unfair to label you as the bad guy,” the kid shrugs, a broken grin, “because I have friends, I have really good friends..and I just..I don’t think they were your friends?” He says it cautiously, his voice small at the end, as if he was afraid of hurting Tony with the words he releases. “I don’t think—or maybe you guys didn’t know how to... Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but...God,” Peter breathes out, dropping his head to the counter and his palms against the marble with a shuddering breath. It seems to all come crashing on him then. 

Tony stands at the sight of his distress and Peter lifts his head then, his tears rolling down his face, his hurt spelled all over.

“The people in my class don’t _ know..._they don’t know _ anything. _They don't know you or how it all happened. People are so set on disqualifying you; it's unbelievable the things they pull just so you come out as the bad guy." He looks at Tony, angry. "It was horrible sitting there, hearing them say the things they said. And people I thought were my friends? I..” 

Peter drops his face again, his shoulders shaking now, and the sound of his soft sobs tormenting. 

“I can’t be the only one that can see _ you_. It's not fair that I'm the only one.”

“Oh, Peter,” Tony whispers, afraid to bring his voice above it. "Look at me. Hey. Kid."

Peter moves so that he's facing Tony as he stands in front of him, and cards his hand through Peter’s hair; he holds it in place, tugging at it gently as he begins to speak. “You are..the most incredible person, you know that? Not even Virginia Potts can compare. Ask her. She’ll back me up on that.”

Peter deflates a bit more, a small choked chuckle gets lost in the midst of his small sobs. Tony grins at the kid as he continues. “You’re the only friend I care about..seeing me. Don’t sweat it, kid. I got you? I got everything.”

He lets go of him then, pulls him in for a hug, dropping a kiss to the top of his head. When Peter lets go, he wipes his tears, looking at Tony as he tells him to pay no mind to what the people are saying. "Only Rhodey and Pepper. And Happy. That's it. The only valid opinions, you hear me?"

He nods, still not entirely convinced. Tony can see it in his eyes, something is still poking at him. 

“Forget about the team. Like you said: complicated. We weren’t perfect and we did our best to synchronize with each other. Even had fun while doing it," he gifts Peter a small smile, "we just wanted to protect the people. Friends or not, that was the common goal. Okay?"

Peter nods, his tear-stained cheeks rosy and full. His face never really changed and Tony is grateful for that big apple head of his. He reminds Peter that he isn't perfect either, that it's normal for people to not like him, that if it doesn't bother him, he cannot let it bother him, "not like this, Pete."

"It bothers you, dad. I know it does." The kid speaks with a heaviness in his whispers. Because sure, it bothers him because he sometimes hears his dad in all the voices but that's different. That's between him and him. 

"Not like this, kid," he reassures him, carding his hands through the kid's hair one more time. 

Peter nods, but Tony knows he only does it to appease him. He continues to stare and then Tony asks him what else he has on his mind, though he looks more at ease. "I can see it all over your enormous eyes. What's up." 

“You might've been wrong about Barnes and maybe you wouldn't have been had Steve called you the moment he found out what was going on, but _he_ wasn’t right about the Accords, dad,” is what the kid says and Tony puts his hands inside the pocket of his jeans with a breath. 

“We all thought we were doing the best for the team. At the end of the day, that’s all we wanted. The goal was to keep the world safe. The Accords...It was Siberia that did us in. We could’ve salvaged what we had but..”

Peter doesn't move his eyes from Tony, saying nothing. 

“It is what it is, kid. We gotta move on from that. Your words, not mine.” 

Peter continues to stare. 

“What, Pete? You’re weirding me out now, bug boy.” He offers a small lopsided smile with a ruffle of his hair but Peter isn’t done. 

“I understand and I’ll move on right after this.” Tony shakes his head, amused until he speaks. “Steve Rogers was _ not _ thinking about anyone outside his bubble when this whole thing imploded.”

Tony’s face drops, though the reminder stings all the same because he felt just like that when it all happened, the Civil War as the people still call it. 

Peter rolls his eyes in mild frustration at the look Tony is giving him, throwing his arms up with a “dad, come _ on,” _and then turning to him, unamused.

Tony tells him that it no longer matters, yet again, to try to let that go. Peter responds with a mutter under his breath Tony chooses not to decode as he turns around and sits facing the counter again. 

“Kid.”

“Whatever, dad. It’s just a little hard to believe he really thought you guys had a chance at doing what you do best separated. He could’ve effing called and _ trusted _ you.”

He’s caught on the trust of it all. Yeah, that net stings when you’re trapped in its ugly truth. 

“Siberia was what broke us, Peter. Sure. Add all the things you said, but it was that video. Everything..it was broken the moment I found out he kept that from me. Whether he called or not about all the chaos with Barnes. You understand?”

The kid ducks his head with a sigh and then looks at Tony, dejected again, looking younger than ever in that moment. “I’m sorry about that. That part always sucks the most.”

It hits Tony full force when Peter’s voice breaks at the end, his shoulders slumping and his eyes welling up again as they stare back into Tony's. He hadn’t thought about it in a while, made his peace with the incident but seeing Peter like this, remembering with him, forces his chest to tighten, his throat closes and with a shaky breath, he places his hands on either side of Peter’s face. 

He thinks about Mary and thinks about Peter’s own mind running circles with the way this could be a Stark trait they both carry. 

When he drops his forehead on the kid’s, Peter’s soft sobs almost obliterates him this time around because he apologizes for bringing it up, and being insensitive, “I didn’t mean to—”

“We are okay. It’s done. We’ll be alright. _ You’re _ alright, understood?” 

He pulls back and wipes Peter’s tears with his thumbs, kissing his forehead when the kid nods. 

“I’m sorry.”

“I know, Underoos. I know.” He acknowledges Peter’s words, ruffling his hair before he inhales a calming breath and a reassuring grin. 

“_We’re _ okay?” 

“Yup,” Tony supplies. “We’re okay.”

The kid nods without another word and Tony places his palm on his forehead, pushing his hair back and watching Peter gently grin up at him. He shakes his head at the sight and brings his hand inside the front pocket of his jeans again as Peter then stands and heads towards the fridge with a long sigh, opening the freezer. He grabs the vanilla ice cream, two spoons and sets them on the counter. He raises his eyebrow at the kid and Peter reminds him he’s banned from chocolate, eliciting a chuckle from Tony as he takes back his seat. When he takes a spoon in his hand, he asks Tony if he can ask one last question. He green lights it. 

“You think Dr. Banner would’ve been on your side?” He asks this with his eyes on the ice cream tub as he gets it open.

Tony doesn’t respond though Peter seems to know the answer when he looks up at him, giving him a small nod and then back to his first scoop. 

“It’s the blue eyes,” he says in a breath, shaking his head and resigned to his words, “Cap is as charming as they come.”

Tony chuckles, closing his eyes at the comment. When he looks at Peter, the kid is taking a pretty big scoop of ice cream and bringing it to his mouth.

“Sorry to break it to ya but you win that category by a landslide, Spiderbaby.” 

Peter scrunches his face while sticking his tongue out full of ice cream, and Tony impulsively tries to reach for the tub across the counter, but Peter’s reflexes are sharp and he leans back just in time for Tony to miss it.

“If you don’t learn how to eat with your mouth closed, I’m shipping you off,” he says, pointing his finger at him.

“Ooh, DR?”

Tony grabs a couple of grapes from his plate and throws them at him, though he avoids getting hit by them between his laughter, brief and evil, looking down to the floor and watching the grapes roll by his side of the room. 

“Sigh, vanilla is so..vanilla,” Peter says after he swallows his bite. He offers some to Tony but he declines the offer. After another small scoop, the kid seems to be done with it and caps it, setting the spoon down. 

“Forgot to mention that detention hours will count as part of your patrol, so you’re patrolling 4 to 9:30 school nights, 4 to 11:30 the remaining days.”

“That sucks,” Peter grumbles under his breath when he drops his forehead on the counter, “kill me. Kill me now.”

“You want no Spidey time at all?” 

Peter’s groans grow louder. He won’t put this against him. Tony can understand needing to blow steam and acting impulsively when he's feeling trapped but the whole going to Queens in broad daylight without a better disguise? Especially when Ryan is not even dropping him off? That can’t be overlooked. He appreciates Peter being unconditionally loyal and such a good friend, an unbelievable son but his safety is still the number one priority. He’ll lift the previous restrictions. That he’ll disclose in a minute because Peter keeps lightly banging his head against the marble with his agonizing groan. It’s quite hilarious. 

  
  


**Track IX**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark**

**I just got out. **

**Richard’s here at 5**

**How was the first day? **

**You in the Breakfast Club yet?**

**One word: PSAs**

**Kk, I’m in the car**

**I’m sorry**

**The tears blurred the screen**

**Tears?**

**Due to the uncontrollable laughter, yes**

**-___-**

  
  


Peter is looking in the portfolio of the rest of the rings as Tony speaks to Richard about the ones he was able to bring for them to possibly choose from.

“Where are these? Can we see these?”

Tony looks over at what Peter points to when he holds the binder open against his chest, pages displayed for Tony to see what he points to. He moves closer to Peter, the kid flipping the binder and standing next to Tony as he points to his favorite ones. Richard reminds them that he can only travel with a certain amount and certain selection and promises to get clearance as soon as possible to bring the ones they are requesting.

After he leaves, Peter rushes to his room to change and Tony has FRIDAY block out the time and day Richard gave them to bring the rings by. 

“The ring is what does the trick, the ring is the one that says ‘Pepper, will you marry me’, you know? It’s gotta say it for you. Trust me.” Peter says as he walks into the living room where Tony is sitting, waiting for Rhodey to give him any news on his search on Oscorp.

When he turns to see Peter, he’s in full Spider-Man gear, mask in hand and almost-gone apple in the other. 

“I take it you’ve done this before, then,” he assumes and stares up at the kid, waiting for an equally ridiculous response.

Peter takes another bite of his fruit, all of it almost gone and simply says, “yup. Gotta go” around a mouthful of apple while slinging his patrol backpack on his shoulders.

“Be careful, you hear me?” Tony calls after him when Peter goes into the kitchen and comes back with no devoured apple core in sight, “watch on you immediately after you change out of the suit. FRIDAY will override Karen if need be. Don’t try me.”

“I know, I know.” Peter drops a kiss to Tony’s forehead and then begins to head out, putting on his mask. 

“Hi, Karen! Nope! Done with calculus for now. Please, no more review questions,” he says to his A.I on his way out.

**Track X**

Richard makes his return again eight days later and when Peter walks into the tower that Thursday from his Spider-Man adventures, Tony is sitting on the couch, reading the e-mails Rhodey sent earlier. He calls the kid over so that he can take a look at the rings Richard left behind for them to choose from. It took a bit of convincing and a downpayment on all of them to be refunded once all the rings were safely returned to the provider, but they’re here. He had to. He cannot make this decision without Peter. The kid would exile him, especially with his self-assigned position of maid of honor. “Uncle Rhodey debunked me the minute you two _met. _Besides, maid of honor of _Pepper_ _Potts_? I gotta have this job.” Tony laughed real hard when they were talking about it on Peter’s bed a few days back, clouds on display above them. 

So today, he takes advantage of the fact that Pepper is spending the next two nights with her mother and sets the 13-inch jewelry box on top of the coffee table. 

“Underoos, come here a second.”

“This nickname is really gonna stick, isn’t it?” Peter says as he walks up to Tony, taking his mask off and dropping it on the table, not taking notice of the jewelry box yet.

“Gonna?” 

Peter shakes his head and rolls his eyes, kissing Tony’s forehead hello, and then proceeding to press the spider logo on his chest, strips off the suit, down to his boxers. With a breath, he then plops next to Tony on the couch. 

“.._Why_?” Tony narrows his eyes in genuine confusion when he asks the question.

“Pepper said if I sit on the furniture with the suit on after I patrol one more time, she will tell you to cut an hour down from my weekend rounds.” Peter sits facing Tony, leg curved into the couch, the other to the ground. “By the way,” he continues, “I ate the take out we ordered for you at the restaurant. Mr. Delmar’s not open yet so I had to make due. Sorry.”

“Pepper knows her people,” Tony shares as he leans forward and sets the Starkpad down on the coffee table.

“She sure does.”

“You love her, though,” he states as he reaches and grabs the jewelry box. 

“I sure do. What’s this?” Peter nods towards the box as Tony places it on his lap and turns it around so that the rings face the kid once he opens it, “schematics for that secret thing you’ve been working on? You’re finally gonna spill?”

“Nope. This.”

Tony opens the box and watches Peter’s reaction while fostering his nerves and excitement; the kid’s jaw is on the ground while he continues to gawk. Tony then let’s go of a choked, nervous breath when he spins the box around and looks at the rings, Peter moving in closer so that he can see them with him. 

“Holy smokes, dad. They look better than they did in the pictures.”

“Yup,” Tony concurs, eyes on the rings and then seeing it. The second one to the right, blue diamond. He picks it up and looks at it, and then Peter takes it from him, examining it. 

The kid turns to Tony, expression serious, eyes intent on Tony’s and with the ring between his fingers, he asks, “will you marry me?”

“You little _ shit_, how did you _ do _ that?!”

Because Tony sees it. This is the ring. It asks for itself. He’s sure if he leaves this hidden in a place where Pepper is roaming around, it will begin talking. With his hands pulling at his hair, he stares at the ring as Peter happily chuckles with his eyes back on the diamond. 

“Told you. I’ll explain it when you’re older,” he says, grin on his face, eyes still admiring the ring. "This one is beautiful, by the way. Good choice."

Anxiously, Tony runs his hands down his face and swallows dry, nervous and suddenly his mouth is drying out while his heart speeds up. 

“Dad, you got this.”

Tony nods with a deep breath and eyes on the ring too. He looks at Peter who sets it back in the box.

“This is it. You’re okay with this, then?”

Peter turns to face Tony, his smile dropping and answering with a very serious and obvious, “of course, father. What—stop it. This is happening. Now, you have to ask her by the beach like I mentioned before; that first date you guys had, remember?”

“How do _ you _remember?”

“It was mom and dad's first date! Besides, I was eight. Not stupid. I heard you with uncle Rhodey having a complete meltdown that night.”

He did. It was exhausting.

“And you’re still on board with Pepper and I getting married, right?”

“But don’t make it flashy, you know?” Peter goes on as if Tony hadn’t asked him anything, his way of answering the question. Tony grins as he listens to him. “Have this moment with her. No party, no..gala. No press conference. This should be yours and that’s it.”

Tony lets out a small breath of surprise as Peter stands and gathers his belongings from the ground because it sounds ideal. 

“Of course, I'd be there too because who's going to capture the big moment. So Malibu? When? Let’s coordinate this. I’ll have my people call your people? Great.”

Peter gives Tony a quick and loud kiss on the forehead again as he begins to make his exit out of the room, gathering his stuff.

“So call Ned to tell him to tell you when I’ve picked a date so that he calls me back to tell me you're okay with it?”

“You got it!” Peter shouts back, leaving Tony staring at the ring with giddiness in his smile. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***¿Desayuno? = Breakfast?
> 
> No estuvieras tarde si te levantaras temprano, mi querido Peter = You wouldn't be late if you woke up on time, my darling Peter
> 
> hombre lata = tin man
> 
> ¿Lapiz? = pencil? 
> 
> Tienes tres minutos para explicarme como llegaste a esta respuesta = You have three minutes to explain to me how you arrived at this answer 
> 
> Ambos logaritmos tienen coeficientes de uno, ¿correcto? = Boh logarithms have coefficients of one, correct?
> 
> Me mudo a República Dominicana MAÑANA = Moving to the Dominican Republic TOMORROW
> 
> Um, ¿playas? ¿Arena? ¿El SOL? Hello? = Um, beaches? sand? THE SUN? Hello?
> 
> Y porque mi espanol es *chef’s kiss = and because my Spanish is *chef's kiss* ***
> 
> I was excited when this idea came about because I'm definitely more fluent in Spanish than English. 
> 
> Uh, alt-J's fantastic. One of the only good things about CACW: IM4
> 
> My Stark boys are best friends and I live for that. One of my favorite parts is the flight back from the proposal. Oh, the JOY. It warmed my heart. 
> 
> Anything you can deem to call your favorite part? Tell me, tell me! Comment below! 
> 
> Hoping to post the next chapter soon, patience with me, I beg of you. In the meantime, stay SAFE, listen to precautions, and wash your hands. 
> 
> I know we're in the middle of chaos, but anyway you can, 
> 
> Go be happy.


	15. Int. & Remaining Act

**Intermission**

“Here.”

Peter’s hand stills on the lock of his opened locker, his eyes looking at the pieces of paper being thrusted at his side. He closes the locker door and turns around to find MJ’s stoic face looking right back, nudging what she holds in her hand for him to take. He slings his bag over his shoulder and gives a single nod in thought before he speaks. 

“Ya know,” he says, taking them all from her with his eyes fixed on them, “you could’ve sent me links instead of printing these.”

When Peter looks up at her, she tilts her slightly to the side, entirely too unamused and begins to narrow her eyes in his direction. At the sight, Peter slowly brings up the paperwork to his face and switches his expression from a smile to a frown as he moves the pile up and down to reveal them. Right when he notices her face softening on his third run into a smile, Flash makes his entrance. Always so timely. 

“What up, PENIS? I’m glad you’ve finally decided to cover that up. Don’t want anyone to catch your serious case of the Ugly!”

Peter, in all his nonchalance, holds the paperwork in his hands and looks down at it, tidying it in his hands. He inhales a breath and then looks at Flash as he slows down, smirking at Peter as if his comment was at all something to be proud of. Ned stops by the locker then and MJ turns around to face Flash.

“That was a good one, Flash. Be proud.” Peter nods his way, his sarcasm heavy when he speaks. MJ motions him with his hands to move along, Peter’s focus now on Gregory as he's also walking by with his friends. There’s eye contact and Peter holds it until Gregory looks away, smug and annoying.

Peter lowers his eyes once he’s out of sight, inhales another breath and looks back up, finding MJ and Ned in his line of vision.

“What?”

“Don’t pay them any mind, dude,” Ned advises and greets Peter with their handshake. “What’s all that?”

“You know, I have no idea,” he answers with a shrug of his shoulders and his eyes on MJ who rolls hers, though he can see the shade of pink in her cheeks making an appearance. 

She reminds him of the reason why the pages in his hands couldn’t be links shared with him through emails. Peter’s request. Right.

He asked for them to share whatever it is they found useful with hard copies only. So that’s what she did, then. Peter nods, apologizing and thanking her as the three of them start to move towards the auditorium while Peter browses through what he has in his hands. 

“You’re seeing Lilah today?”

“Yeah,” Peter answers, confused by what he skims through, “I’m with dad this weekend and his birthday is the week after.”

“Nice. Though, I gotta say, blonde Peter with light eyes gives me the creeps. I need the break. Bless Mr. Stark.”

“Thank you,” MJ responds to Ned’s observation of her handy work.

“What is this again?” Peter turns to MJ as he holds the documents against his chest, the article about Roosevelt facing her.

“Remember when you were given the satchel that belonged to..” Peter nods at MJ’s insinuation, her eyes saying the name without a single word, “and in it you found your..you found the calculator amongst her notes and stuff, and when you picked it up, you called us because you heard the rattling in it?” They’ve slowed their pace, the hallway clearing out as it gets closer to the start of the last period of the day, while they are heading towards the auditorium. 

“..Right?” 

He remembers going home that day with the satchel stuffed in his backpack so that when he came in, his dad didn’t see. He locked himself in his room after saying goodnight and opened it with his heart in his throat. The notebook with his mother’s handwriting, just like his grandfather left behind for his dad. It was trippy; his mouth had dried out and when he picked up the calculator, he heard the rattling inside of it, and as if rehearsed, his father’s voice on the phone with uncle Rhodey clashed with the discovery. His steps were approaching his room so Peter shoved everything back inside the satchel and threw it back over his shoulder, right into the bathroom, shot a web to the knob and pulled it closed and stood up from the floor only to trip on an empty water bottle. If either of his parents had caught that moment, all the pleading for him to clean his bedroom would’ve been very validated. 

_“Kid?”_

_Peter springs up and slams his palms on the mattress, standing up before his dad steps further into the room. _

_“Hi!”_

_“You alright? Why…”_

_“Was looking for something,” he exclaims, climbing on the bed and sitting dead center on it but Tony Stark is on to him the minute Peter smiles up at him a second too later after his response._

_“What’s going on, spiderboy?”_

_He wants to tell his dad, right there. It begins rising in his throat and then he runs from his confession when he realizes how he would react. He has to settle things with May first. It's too soon. Then..Then he’ll tell him. When things are calmer, and she isn’t as scared as his dad predicted she’d be._

_“Honestly? My mind is wired,” he says, which is partially true. It’s been 10 days since his first contact with May, and the satchel he got today, and May not ready to talk about his mom. It all has him out of sorts. More now that there’s something inside that calculator. “I can’t sleep.” Which is also the truth. _

_His dad lets go of a small sigh, looking at him and speaking to Rhodey and telling him he'll call him back, then instructing FRIDAY to end the call. Peter watches him as he takes the earpiece out of his ear and he expects him to enter further into the room but instead, he motions with his head towards the door. Peter looks behind him, pretending to look for the person he’s talking to, and when he turns to his dad, he points at himself with a surprised, “you talking to me?”_

_“Come on, spiderbaby. Let’s stare at the clouds with a nice, warm cup of milk.”_

_“It’s Christmas!” _

_Peter snickers as he climbs off the bed when his dad rolls his eyes with a smile on his face and starts walking out of the room. He looks back towards his bathroom door and stops on his tracks, refocusing his senses and only hearing the way his heart beats at the mere thought of the satchel. _

_“Offer expires in 15 minutes, kid!” his dad shouts, “hustle!” _

_Peter turns towards the door and begins to sprint after the one and only Tony Stark. _

They begin to make their way backstage once they reach the auditorium, Peter’s guilt for hiding all of this from his father rising at the memory. He looks around as the students around him start cleaning and setting up for the backup location in case it rains the day of the graduation ceremony in a few weeks. Peter’s attention latches onto MJ as she speaks, Ned on his right side still listening in as well. 

“I did some research on the imprint of the coins we found inside the calculator and came across what you have in your hand.” 

Peter looks down at the papers and feels his heart speed up then. This is definitely hard copy material. 

“Have you heard of Roosevelt’s track 61?” she asks, in a quieter voice when the students that pass by them walk by with the banners in hand, talking amongst themselves. 

Ned straightens up immediately and looks at Peter when she opens the door that leads them to the dressing rooms, looking back at them as she waits with the door open while she leans against it. 

“Please, change your tone of voice. You’re creeping me out.”

She completely dismisses the request and continues into the hall, Peter and Ned in tow. She leads them towards the dressing rooms, like every day after their last class, and Peter glances again to the documents she handed him. Once inside the dressing room, Peter takes his usual seat by the dresser with the make-up bags already opened and ready for use, MJ bringing out another one from one of the drawers of the dresser next to it. Ned sits by his usual seat, by that same dresser next to Peter’s, reading what he found on the internet about the track 61 off his phone. 

“_Track 61 is a storage track abutting a private __railroad platform __on the_ _Metro-North Railroad__in Manhattan__, New York City,” _he reads as MJ takes out one of her cleansing wipes and asks Peter to look up at her. Ned continues. _“It is located beneath the __Waldorf Astoria New York__hotel, within an underground storage yard northeast of __Grand Central Terminal__. The platform is part of the Grand Central Terminal complex.”_

She begins cleaning his face as she then speaks once Ned seems to be at a loss with the information he recites. 

“If you read on, it mentions the people that used it in history. FDR used it to hide his polio.” Peter is staring up at her and noticing the small freckles she has right on her cheekbones. It’s only three of them on each side, but he can see them. They’re cute on her. 

“But these are inactive, there’s nothing there,” Ned says, looking at her then. 

MJ doesn’t say anything as she reaches behind Peter and grabs another wipe once she's done with the first one. When he locks eyes with her, he can see she says a lot more with that single look than she has said in the past ten minutes. 

“Besides, what does that have to do with...you know…” Ned rolls his chair next to Peter, looking up at her. 

Peter drops his eyes back to the pieces of paper in his hand and understands now the correlation to the picture of the rusty wagon on that second page. 

“If..she took public transformation, more specifically, the D train which is the one that operated the wagon, then…” She doesn't finish, though her voice changes as Peter looks up at her when she lifts his head by his chin. They lock eyes, Peter seeing how soft and tender her expression becomes when she says, “it’s worth checking it out, don’t you think?” Her hand then begins to wipe again. He lowers his eyes then. Because just like that, it all became real.

This is the furthest he’s ever gotten in finding out about Mary and her death. May doesn’t want to talk about it, says she wants to start over with Peter. The only thing she ever disclosed with him was about her satchel. How that and her wallet were the only things she kept. Peter tried to ease her into the subject, but it was no use so he resigned, for the time being, to only getting to know his aunt behind his dad’s back and his friends’ backing. 

“I don't know, isn't it a bit of a stretch?” Ned leans over to see the page in Peter's hand, the ones his eyes seem to be stuck on. 

“Thor. Aliens. Need I go on?” she retorts with, “what’s to say there’s nothing there?” She ends the conversation without another word and this time doesn't ask Peter to focus. He's grateful because he cannot stop rereading about FDR's secret station and visualizing the imprint on the coins. 

He feels his friends’ eyes on him but he continues to read about it. Track 61. It would make sense if his mother had a secret place away from Oscorp, right? He feels like his dad in a way, finding out about his parents the way he did. He's been giving it a lot of thought lately since he's been around May. Is she hiding something like this? It can’t be because she’s not..sad as much as she is..bitter at the mention of Mary. 

Maybe this is it. Maybe if he goes to the subway station, gets on the whichever train—D was it?—and looks hard enough, he can find what he’s looking for. He can find out how Baxter knew Spider-Man is Mary’s son. He can find out _why _his aunt is hiding because she won’t answer that riddle either; he can find out the reason why he’s the only one allowed to call her May and that’s only indoors. 

Why they have to hide the fact they connected. 

It’s been a few weeks, but it feels like he’s known her all his life. He doesn’t want to ruin that by making her uncomfortable. No. So he’ll find out on his own—with the help of his best friends, which proved to be the right way to go. 

Track 61. The more he rereads, the more it surprisingly makes sense. Maybe it leads somewhere where the answers lie.

Maybe after he finds this place, he can tell his dad that he has been in contact with May, that she welcomed him immediately after Peter reached out. That when he’s in Queens, Ned and Peter stay with her for hours at a time before he patrols. Doing homework, catching up. That she wants to get to know Peter, and she has started to. That she even changed her schedule to work around his so that they can spend time together. He might not tell him about May meeting MJ before he was able to, though. 

Maybe he can tell his dad that it has been one of the best things that has happened yet. Maybe, just maybe they can be a family once this is all resolved. 

“I’ve never taken the subway,” Peter softly says, the shock of it all being so close to coming together hitting him when he finally looks up, MJ’s eyes the first thing he sees when she turns around from setting up the brushes she’s going to use today. 

She glances at Ned and then looks back at Peter. 

“We can help with that.”

  
  


**Act II**

  
  


“Liz and I were never a _thing_, dad. Besides, she’s going away for school, you know? And apparently anti-Tony Stark.”

“Not anti-Peter though.”

“Anti-one Stark is anti all of them. It’s the same thing. Enough. I’m no longer attracted to her anyway. I—”

“Like MJ,” Tony finishes for him as Peter drops from where he is cleaning on the side of the wall of the kitchen with a soft thud and mouth wide open, indignant and in shock. Tony shrugs as he sets the blender in the sink, grabbing his travel mug from the counter and patting Peter on the back. 

“Did I strike a chord?” 

“We’re done with this subject. Can we go? I cleaned the mess. No more blender without the little lid for the lid. Learn something new every day. We’re gonna be late. Come on.”

Peter heads to the elevator, grabbing the bags by it and walking through the double doors, Tony following behind him as FRIDAY shuts the lights in their wake. 

“So, she really thinks we’re just spending these two days over there for your birthday that's not for another week? She bought that?”

Tony nods to Peter’s question.

“Sneaky, Mr. Stark. Well done. Did you plan for when she realizes you tricked her into this? She hates being tricked.”

“This isn’t a _trick_, this is a _surprise_. Stop—sh. Quiet, now.” 

“I miss Malibu,” Peter sighs instead of following instructions as if Tony hadn’t even addressed him, “this is gonna be fun. You nervous?”

Tony continues to stare up, his smoothie in hand, disaster teenager on his right and Pepper waiting for them on the West Coast. He inhales a deep breath, unable to retrain his high hopes and feeling Peter’s eyes on him. It’s Pepper. Yes, he’s definitely on edge, but it’s_Pepper_. She literally has pieces of his heart with her. This feels right, overdue in a way. He knows it’ll work out, no matter what her response will be.

“A little bit,” he answers, putting on his glasses. “I’m very tired, believe it or not.” The double doors slide open into the garage, Happy waiting for them by the car. 

“How come?”

“Went to bed late.”

“How come?”

Tony side eyes him, Peter’s innocent face working overtime as he waits for Tony to respond. He shakes his head with a chuckle because it’s funny, Peter's funny, so with a breath as they head to the car, he answers with, “Rhodey and I were working on something last night, and then he got into his best man role."

“I see,” Peter says as he's walking to the back of the car and placing the bags in the trunk. “How come?”

“I’m cutting you off,” Tony answers, hearing Peter’s small laugh when he says it. 

Happy informs Tony about Pepper’s arrival and security being a total success, to which Tony responds with a nod. “Thanks for the update, Hap.”

He begins to get inside the car as Peter starts to walk over towards Happy, Tony watching as Happy stands still as a rock while Peter slightly picks him up just enough to get a reaction out of the man when he hugs him. 

“I’ve seen his cardiogram, kid. Stop it with that,” Tony half-heartedly reprimands from the car, sticking his head out the window. He sits back down against his seat, adjusting his jacket and rolls the window back up while Peter simply chuckles and apologizes to Happy as the man straightens out his suit.

“So, uh, what cha working on in the lab?” Peter asks as he jumps on the back seat next to him while Tony listens to FRIDAY run ETA to the airport. 

“No tech. Paperwork.”

“Oh?”

“Adoption papers, if you must know.”

“Ohh! You finally found a family for me?”

With his head against the headrest of the car, eyes closed, Tony answers with a small nod and a hum.

“Are they nice? Will they let me stay out past 9:30 on school nights? Can I take DUM-E with me? Will they buy me snickers? When do I meet them? How—”

“As soon as we come back, you’re outta here,” he says cutting him off and raising his voice above Peter’s. He settles against his seat, surprisingly calm now, the complete opposite of Peter’s raving questions.

“Ah, are you sure, father? Will you be able to go on without me?”

Tony turns his face to Peter, lowering his glasses just enough so that he can see Peter over them. He is giving him those big puppy eyes, blinking ever so endearingly. Even joking, Tony can’t handle taking this one joke too far. A life without Peter. What an endless moment of despair. He answers the kid by playfully covering his mouth when he begins asking more of his silly questions again.

“Enough out of you, for crying out loud.”

Peter licks Tony’s hand and the shock and disgust has Tony gasping in genuine shock, Peter's chortling away as Tony wipes his hand on the kid’s jacket a bit rougher than needed. Indignant, Tony looks at him and then turns to the rearview mirror, catching Happy’s eyes crinkle at their side, quietly amused at Tony’s expense.

“You’re..disgusting. Why on _earth _would you do that!”

Peter calms down enough to unceremoniously plant a kiss on Tony’s cheek while he keeps staring at his hand with distaste spelled all over his face. 

Peter breaks into laughter again. 

In the plane, Tony listens to the third Harry Potter book with Peter until they arrive at their destination.

**Act III**

Their plan works perfectly. Peter's cheeks hurt from smiling so much. When his dad waves him over from his place of hiding, he slings his camera across his chest and heads over, his dad and Pepper soaking wet from their impromptu play fight on the shore; it just made the moment that much sweeter. 

When he stands before them, he rushes towards Pepper, embracing her. That’s when Peter feels his eyes stinging in between his laughter, though Pepper is way ahead of him and breaks down between her own giggles as she hugs him back. 

She lets go and holds his face between her hands, salty and cold now, telling him that she loves him just as Peter keeps chuckling in the middle of his tears and does the same, telling her with all he has that “I love _you! _I love you!” She smiles that sweet smile he has taken comfort in since he could remember. 

In that moment, the way his heart is racing at the bliss that surrounds them, Peter looks at Tony, his hair sticking all over the place because he had to push and Pepper hit her limit and pushed him in the water. They stare at each other for a moment before they simultaneously break into chuckles, which turn into full laughs because it went better than they planned. Shaking his head, Peter catches the way his dad’s eyes sparkle and that’s when he chooses to throw himself at Tony in an embrace full of glee and love, _proud _of him, happy for him. He cannot wait to live this one with him.

All Peter wants in this new phase for his father is this peace and this joy to continue. Because if anyone deserves this moment of completion is Tony Stark. 

**Track XI**

Sunday comes quickly. There are uncontrollable fits of laughter when his father calls uncle Rhodey and Happy at the compound. Pepper decides to wait until she sees grandma Lily to tell her, Peter hoping she is okay. At least enough to hear the news. There is never-ending conversation between the three of them along with an overload of affection the entire flight back home. Peter lets these waves of pure happiness drown him as he sits back up on his seat because he fell over due to the laughter Pepper's stories cause, stories Peter was too young to remember now. 

“I did not say that!”

“On everything, kid,” Tony calls from his seat, “that’s exactly what happened!”

Peter drops his head back in laughter, full and unrestrained, his stomach hurting as his eyes water from so much _joy. _Pepper tries to continue speaking, sitting across from them with her legs crossed underneath her. 

“It was impossible to course-correct you because we would just..laugh. It was hopeless. Rhodey almost fainted from lack of oxygen, he was laughing so hard,” she chuckles out. In that moment his dad puts his arm around his shoulders, chuckling and pulling Peter towards him with a kiss to the top of his head. 

And then the wave of laughter attacks Pepper again as she seems to remember another anecdote, but she can only get parts of it out and they seem to do the trick for his dad because then they’re suddenly both mute from laughter with a half told story. It’s contagious and soon Peter is laughing because _they’re _laughing and then he’s also out of breath from it when he watches his dad slide further down into his seat because Pepper tries to tell Peter what they're laughing about but she can't. The amusement won't relent.

  
  


**Track XII**

  
  


**MP**

**Ned and MJ are coming with you?**

**MJ, Ned **

**She’s got night shifts this week + next**

**You guys wanna hang out over there?**

**Maybe a few days next week?**

**Ned: what day? **

**MJ: reviewing for finals next week**

**MJ: we’re not all walking brains bud**

**MJ: but see if you can find out about public trans**

**MJ: things are okay now, maybe tell your dad too**

**Ned: I second that **

**I’m not patrolling that Wed so maybe then?**

**It’s dad’s birthday that day **

**I’ll go straight to the tower from there**

**Idk about telling him. Doesn't feel right yet**

**Ned: Actually Wed before 6 is cool**

**Ned: Is she finally down to watch HP?**

**MJ: I might be able to make it if it’s before 6 too**

**MP**

**Yeah is that cool?**

**You're working at 8 right?**

**Yup but don't worry about that**

**Great! Tell them it's Thai night**

**Chicken larb?**

**Sounds awesome :) **

“Is that MJ you’re texting?”

Peter sets his phone down on the table with a roll of his eye unable to hide the hint of a smirk he knows his dad catches. He likes MJ but he has to play his cards right this time, so he plays it safe for now. There's a lot to consider, especially with all that's going on so he really wants to do this right because he might be new to this but he definitely thinks MJ might feel the same way. 

“_Anyway_,” he cuts off, moving the things around his desk so that he can sit on his workstation, hair still damp from his shower earlier. Pepper got him this coconut conditioner that smells..incredible. He’s sure his heightened sense of smell doesn’t help with the praises but _wow, _he almost wants to pour some in his hand and eat it. 

“'Anyway' nothing. Go to bed, Underoos.”

Tuesday night, another day in the life of the Starks. 

“I can help you. Ten minutes. Come on, come on come ooonnnn.” He doesn’t wait for his dad to take him up on his offer and takes the video camera from DUM-E, then hands the bot the fire extinguisher in its place. 

His dad glares at him without a word. Peter smiles his way. 

“Otay, here we go! DUM-E, you douse ready?” Peter climbs onto his table and sits with his legs crossed, very excited to see the nanotech blow his entire mind away. He knows it’s finally complete and it’s about to be _ridiculously awesome_. 

“You know I’m in charge, right?”

“You want me to go to sleep but take three days to start the sequence. Chop, chop. I could've been asleep already!” Peter shakes his head as he adjusts the video camera and when he directs it towards the starting point, he’s greeted with his dad’s face taking up the entire shot.

Peter lowers it to look at him and then yelps in a surprised chuckle when his dad pinches his nose. He lets go of a brief laugh and repositions the camera as the Big Cheese Stark begins to walk to his marked spot. He watches as the arc reactor is resembling the shape of a heart, right in the middle of his chest, reminding Peter of the nights he went into his father’s room shortly after his arrival from Afghanistan, and he was never asleep though Peter always was before he went to his room. 

It wakens the nostalgia in Peter as he realizes this particular reactor can be detached. It’s mind-blowing in a way, but that's no news. His father has always been able to take his breath away with the things he comes up with. 

“One run and then bed.”

“You can’t get all you need in one run. You’ll need more. As many runs as you neeeeed, I'll be there.”

His deadpans towards Peter as he stands in position makes him let go of a brief, loud chuckle.

“I’ll ship you off, Stark. You know I will.”

Peter smiles, big and giddy as he pats DUM-E next to him, giving his dad a thumbs up with an exaggerated wink. 

“You’re the one that has to study for finals and go back to school after classes are over at the end of the day. Trying to help you here. Not trying to ruin your life, you know.”

“I know, you’re right. I know. Go, go. I wanna seeeee.”

“You know, kid, you guys can..study here, right? You, Ned, MJ. I don’t mind. I prefer it that way, quite frankly.”

He should just tell him. Things _are_ okay. It might be a bit of a shock but then he thinks,_what’s the worst that could happen_? And then Peter’s mind runs to the worst that could happen and talks himself out of the confession yet again. 

“Yeah, I know. Thanks, dad,” he starts, fake fidgeting with the video camera in hand, avoiding eye contact at all costs, “But it’s cool. Some teachers are staying to help and stuff. They opened up the place for us to use.” He shrugs then, trying to sound cool, though he feels himself sweating. 

“Your call. The offer stands.” 

Before he can say anything else in response to that, Peter catches the faint sound of rushed steps approaching the lab and before he can say anything, Pepper bursts through the door, running towards his dad. Confused and slightly alarmed, Peter sets the camera on the table and steps down from his spot, DUM-E standing down when Pepper stands too close to the marked spot. Peter looks to his father then, and sees that he is also wearing the same confused yet concerned look upon his face. Slowly, simultaneously, they return their eyes to her. Her heart races. Peter hears it loud and clear, and then so does his dad’s next to him. Peter gets anxious by the second before she just stares, unable to speak, as if the words are stuck and can’t move past her throat.

“Pep?”

She stares at Peter when his dad calls her, Peter noticing the way her eyes well up when they land on him. 

“Sushi.” 

Her eyes are blue, the most potent blue they’ve been since the beach a few days ago. When she moves her eyes from Peter they land on the water bottle he brought down but never opened and reaches for it, taking it and opening it. As she takes a surprisingly big sip of it, Peter and his dad slowly look at each other again, clearly on the same page of full-on concern and confusion; they look back at her as she sets the bottle back down. 

“I’m pregnant.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Talk to me in the comments :) hi hi :) 
> 
> Go be happy!


	16. The Sequel: Please, Be Seated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This is a solution I worked on in the lab a few days ago,” Peter starts as he stands in front of him with a glass bottle in hand. Tony looks at it and then at the kid. 
> 
> “Okay?”
> 
> “It instantly dissolves the webs.”
> 
> “Great. Do it.”
> 
> But he doesn’t make a move to do anything at all. He just stares at Tony.
> 
> \--
> 
> A week of trust. And sweets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiiiiiiiiiii! 
> 
> I hope you guys are all well and staying safe during all of this! It's been super intense for me, hitting close to home, hitting home—it's surreal. But we stand, my friends! Jesus is real in these streets, fr fr! 
> 
> Now...what you guys are REALLY here for..................
> 
> I am very excited and GRATEFUL you've come back to read and experience this with meeee!
> 
> I hope you enjoy what's ahead! Keep in mind this work has no beta so I am sorry in advance lol 
> 
> Haveeeee funnnnn<3000

**Act I**

**Track I**

After. After the way the news leave Tony stunned, after Peter grabs onto his hair in rushed and almost shrilling “ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” while turning to Tony, after. After the hug he gives Pepper with his words caught in his throat, after Peter cries with that big smile of his on his face while making his way to hug both Tony and Pepper, after Tony’s heart erupts just at the sight of Pepper looking back at the kid with her love pouring out, after the way the moment illuminates everything that could possibly reach this perfect night, after the news leaves everyone on a high... 

After. 

It’s after they are finally able to go to bed, the excitement finally making way for sleep, that Tony is laying up on his mattress with Pepper asleep next to him. It’s after he gets to live the moment that life lets him enjoy before it taints it for him; it’s after the high that the fall forces him to look at the other side of the recent news. And he’s suddenly standing in the middle of the frozen lake, and the monsters are fast approaching and he knows the closer they get, the faster the ice will begin to crack. 

Because threat is imminent and they’re short on men.

And now..this kid that’s coming, he can’t bear watching another one fall into the trap and preparing him for a fight that’s not his to win. This can’t be the only choreography Tony knows how to dance to perfection. 

He continues to stare at the ceiling and then at the clock. 1:24am. He looks at Pepper sound asleep and with a kiss to her forehead, he stands from his bed and heads out of the bedroom. 

Tony opens the door to Peter’s room slowly, whispers to FRIDAY to give him lowlights while he pops his head through the door as his eyes land on Peter, still asleep but with a book on his chest this time around. He sighs at the sight and enters, actually disappointed that he didn’t find him awake, but no harm. He’ll let him sleep and so proceeds to quietly walk over to the bed and around the mess on the floor, which is not as bad as it was earlier; it looks like Peter cleaned up a bit around his room when he woke up that second time around before he grabbed his book. The kid obviously didn’t finish the job because Tony still has to dance around so he doesn’t step on clothing, lego pieces, juice pouches, and the Chuck Taylors that are...everywhere. But Tony can see the floor. Good, because he and Pepper were giving him until the weekend to clean up around here. They were ready to pounce. 

“Full of surprises there, Peteyboy,” he whispers as he approaches the bed. 

Picking up the book from his chest, Tony creases a small dog ear at the corner of the page he finds the book opened to before he reads the title. _ Will Grayson, Will Grayson. _ Huh. He reads the back cover and then opens it to see if he got it from the library but finds a small handwritten “MJ’s” at the bottom right corner of the first page instead. With a smirk, he sets the book down and begins to walk back to the door and trips on the hoodie that’s half way out from under the bed on his way. 

He swears under his breath, his heart jumping to his throat as if he skipped a step while walking down the stairs. 

“Hello? Hello?” 

The stumble apparently wakes Peter up. 

Tony turns around and keeps his voice to a whisper, telling the spiderbaby to go back to sleep and reaching for the sweater on the ground, holding it at a distance and then dropping it on the basket of dirty laundry in the corner of the room closest to the door. Because there are two piles and Tony will pounce as soon as daylight hits the tower today because one of them starts from the floor up. No basket. 

“I’m awake, I’m awake. What’s going on? FRIDAY, lights, please.”

She turns them on.

“No, FRIDAY, no lights,” Tony instructs and then she shuts them off. Now the room is completely dark. “Let me leave first, will you? Then, you shut down.”

Tony doesn’t know how she hasn’t popped out with a laughter feature yet. Because this is her moment. 

“FRIDAY, lowlights and don’t listen to him if he says otherwise,” Peter instructs from his bed. 

“You got it, Peter,” she responds, quiet in respect of the hour. Tony rolls his eyes and turns around to face Peter, who is sitting up on his bed with his big eyes staring at Tony in question. 

“It’s fine. Sleep.”

“What were you doing?”

Tony looks around, casual, cool. Because he really wasn’t doing anything wrong, even if he feels caught. This is weird. Is this how Peter felt all those times Tony caught him eating the cookies from the cupboard?

“Making sure you were okay.”

Peter narrows his eyes. “You already did that.”

“How would you know? You were asleep.”

“I was awake when you made the rounds.”

“No, you weren’t,” Tony defends. 

“I was. How are you gonna tell me I wasn’t when you didn’t even know the first time you came.”

Tony wants to speak, opening and closing his mouth with nothing coming out while his eyes look around the room. Maybe he’ll find the words plastered on the walls. 

He doesn’t. 

He tries to speak either way and when his eyes land on Peter, looking all expectant and knowing, he settles on just narrowing his eyes at the kid instead. 

“Right,” Peter concludes, still sitting on his bed, “so, what’s up?”

“Nothing is up, Peter. Seriously. Go back to sleep.” He puts his hand on the doorknob and calls for FRIDAY, about to tell her to shut down the lights when a string of web traps his hand against the knob. Tony snaps his head in the kid’s direction. 

“Talk. _ What’s. Up.” _

He doesn’t know how Peter does it, always showing Tony he isn’t a little kid anymore and leaving him slightly out of breath when he looks the part. Sometimes he behaves in ways that make him seem as if he’s older than Tony himself. It’s accelerating and scary all at once.

“Alright, Spider-Man,” he calls, undeniably proud, “let’s talk.”

It’s something Tony wasn’t expecting but he’s glad he’s witnessed, the way Peter’s surprise at the name lands on his eyes. It’s strange, and not at all what Tony is sure either of them expected to be the moment he fully accepts Peter’s identity. 

They look at each other and Tony knows then Peter understood everything that was said in that single sentence. He gives the moment a whole of two seconds before he speaks again.

“Get me out of this.”

“Y-yes, right, sorry.” The kid stands from his bed and fumbles while heading to his nightstand then opens the drawer to get whatever he’ll use to set Tony’s hand free. 

“This is a solution I worked on in the lab a few days ago,” Peter starts as he stands in front of him with a glass bottle in hand. Tony looks at it and then at the kid. 

“Okay?”

“It instantly dissolves the webs.”

“Great. Do it.”

But he doesn’t make a move to do anything at all. He just stares at Tony.

“What is it, kid?”

“I haven’t tested it.”

Tony’s eyes land on him and then the bottle. “I trust you. C’mon. Go.”

“If your hand falls off altogether, promise not to get mad?”

“You got it. C’mon. Do it.”

“FRIDAY, you got that?” Peter calls as he opens the bottle.

“Archiving. Good luck, boss.”

Tony glares toward the ceiling, threatening to deactivate her if she keeps up with the antics. 

Solution works to perfection and soon after telling FRIDAY to remind him to stabilize so that he can add it to his arsenal, Tony is laying down on his back on Peter’s bed with the kid next to him.

“You sleep with the shooters on you?”

“I mean..yeah. Spider’s don’t set their webbing on their night table when they’re asleep. I’m _committed_.”

“I see that,” Tony quietly says with his eyes to the clouds above them, knowing what he’ll be working on when he goes to the shop later on today. 

“So, we’ve been staring at the clouds for ten minutes now. It’s..” Peter stops to look at the alarm clock he built off the scraps from the lab, “1:55 in the morning. On a school night. What’s on your mind?”

“How do you know I have something on my mind?”

Eyes remain on the clouds above while they continue to converse. 

“You don’t?”

“Hm.” That’s all Tony says, and for a moment, no one says anything else. 

He stares at the fluffy whites, thinking about the first time he held Peter in the hospital and how he’s looking forward to seeing what he’ll feel when this little one makes his entrance. Will his heart give out due to such so much affection? There were times he felt so much love for Peter that he thought he had maxed out, but here he is, a new baby on the way and there is still an immense amount of room to _love _ that tiny thing. 

Parenting is just a way to demonstrate how much love a soul can really harbor for another person. He's figured it out. 

He didn’t even know he had as much as he does for Peter until he held him; it just grew out of control when he heard Peter’s laughter as Tony blew raspberries on his tummy after he changed his diaper. He was barely three months then. It was an enlightening day.

Peter yawns and tries to hide it, so Tony tries to sit up to go back to his room because, in all honesty, he didn’t really know what he wanted the kid awake for. Maybe this. Maybe to have the way Peter is always willing to listen even if Tony doesn’t speak. He couldn’t wake Pepper and fill her with his fears about his children’s safety. She knows his fears, knows what he’s thinking even when he isn’t. So he tells Peter to go back to sleep, feeling better about everything his mind tried to drown him in after just ten minutes of hanging out with the spiderkid. But said kid isn’t satisfied with the visit and puts his hand on Tony’s chest, lightly pushing him back down against the mattress. He doesn’t fight it. 

“Nope. Come on, dad. You can talk to me.”

With a heavy sigh, Tony brings his arm behind his head and continues to stare above, feeling Peter’s eyes on him.

“Are you scared?”

“Of?”

“Having another kid?”

“No. You broke me years ago.”

Peter hums in his quiet amusement but shares nothing else and returns his attention to the clouds. 

“We’re gonna be okay.”

Tony shuts his eyes at the words and lets Peter have the floor but the kid doesn’t take it. 

He really wants to believe that they will be okay but all he can do is prepare for what’s coming, protect those he loves, those who _ want _ to be protected. He doesn’t open his eyes and his mind takes advantage, showing him snapshots of all of them, everyone, laying dead while he watches. 

Peter, going to places Tony can’t follow, and that’s when he has to force his eyes to snap open, inhaling a shattering breath. 

“Whatever comes, we’re going to be okay. Me, Pepper, you, Peter Jr. You’ll see.”

Tony breathes out a small chuckle and leans over to kiss the top of the kid’s head. “Peter Jr.?”

“Absolutely.”

“What if we have a girl?”

“We’ll just switch it: James Peter Stark.”

Tony lets out a full laugh then, something Peter can invoke so easily. 

“I love you, kid. You’re great, you know that?”

“I love _you_, old man. It’s going to be alright and even if it isn’t for a while because, you know, nothing’s perfect—”

“Except for Pepper,” Tony interrupts. 

“Except for Pepper—if it isn’t for a while, we’ll still have each other to get us through it. We can handle whatever comes our way. _ You _can handle anything, dad, and we’ll be by your side with whatever you need.”

“I got this. I got you guys,” Tony whispers his thoughts out load, the kid's words genuinely encouraging him. 

Peter then turns to look at him and gives him a small approving nod. “You’re not alone. We’re here. Always. Remember that.”

“I will, kid. Thanks for that.”

He grins up at Tony with an “I got you.”

**Track II**

Tony wakes up in his room to Pepper’s lips at the corner of his own, seeing double until she centers and becomes one. He props himself up on his elbows and asks for the time, groggy with sleep as he looks with one eye open to the alarm clock on his nightstand. 

“It’s 8:30.”

“Peter?”

“In school already. Breakfast and everything.”

Tony sits up then, unable to fathom how he slept past 8. Since when does he sleep past 8?! He nods with his eyes closed and slumping his shoulders. Pepper’s hands card through his hair and it’s as if she’s trying to put him back to sleep when she does this. She chuckles; he likes the sound of it and then opens his eyes to look at her. 

“You know, Peter looks a lot more like you than you let yourself believe.”

With a vague gesture towards his face, he quietly indicates it’s really just the eyes, unable to handle how tired he feels. He has spent hours working, has pulled all nighters, and he spends an extra 45 minutes with the kid in the middle of the night and he feels like he got hit by a truck? What is up with that? 

Pepper pulls him out of his inner tangent when she presses her lips to his forehead again in between her quiet giggles and tells him she will call him around lunchtime as she walks over to the closet, that she’s thinking of going over to her mother’s today to tell her the big news. He watches her put on her shoes as she steps back out into the room and offers to go to Lily’s with her, which she gladly accepts. After she reiterates what they spoke off last night, working today and tomorrow and then taking the rest of the week off, she drops in that “Peter wants to know if he can take the picture of our engagement for the media.”

Tony nods in agreement because Pepper hasn’t worn the ring since he proposed to avoid the press harassing her. They agreed on announcing it together and through social media, since it’s the fastest way to get that part of this experience over with. 

“He says he has the perfect hashtag—”

And simultaneously, Tony feeling like he’s finally waking, though very slowly, he and Pepper say, “Pepperony ties the knot.”

“Yup. He’s been driving me up the wall with that one. Sure. After we come back from Lily’s, we can do it.”

“Great,” she agrees and Tony swings his legs over the bed, feet to the floor, his head down and his hand rubbing the back of his neck. 

“I’m going now. You’re okay?”

Tony nods, lifting his head and stretching his arm for Pepper to take his hand, which she does so he pulls her closer to him. He gently puts his forehead against her stomach and then plants a kiss to it, softly saying, “have a good day and be good to mommy. I love you.”

Pepper runs her fingers through his hair and Tony looks up at her at the touch, watching how she bites her smile down with a small shake of her head. Her hands then land on his shoulders and her blue eyes are vibrant and beautiful and so very Pepper, he feels his heart pick up speed. 

“As life goes on, I feel like I might not make it with all I feel for you, Mr. Stark.”

“Ms. Potts, did you know you’re the love of my life?”

“Am I, now?”

“Indeed. No doubt about it.”

“Good.” She brings her hand to his face, closing his eyes and then softly plants kisses over them. “There. Your energy is restored,” she calls. “I’ll see you later.”

Opening his eyes, his hand takes hers to stop her from getting too far when she begins to walk away. She looks his way, glowing and taking all of what Tony has with her. All of it. 

“Yeah? You’ll call me?”

“Yeah, I’ll call you,” she smiles. He smirks up at her and lets go of her hand. 

“Go bring home the bacon,” he calls as she’s reaching the door. 

She turns around to face him before she’s out of the room and with a grin tells him, “I’ll leave a few bills on the counter, why don’t you go get yourself something pretty?” And with that, she walks out. 

“I have you already, you can keep your money!” Tony shakes his head with a smile on his face when he hears her laugh in the distance, dropping back on the bed with a peace he welcomes. 

Fully awake and ready to hit the gym, Tony heads to the kitchen to grab his cup of coffee and has to stop short when he’s greeted with a massive canvas on the peninsula counter, easy 40 x 60, holding a blown up picture of him, Peter and Pepper he recognizes they took a few weeks ago down in the shop. The words “BIRTHDAY WEEK: DAY 1” are on a much smaller frame holding a piece of paper to the right of it, decorated in cups of coffee, arc reactors, cameras and red peppers all around the banner. Tony lets out a breathless laugh of surprise and walks around the peninsula, seeing that the canvas is held up on its proper stand and walks back to face the picture. 

“The kid is nuts,” he says to himself, unable to stop staring. 

“Boss.”

“Yeah,” he distractedly responds to FRIDAY as he picks up the smaller frame and looks at the details assembled on it. "It must've taken him forever to tape these things on here." He's in a mild state of shock while his fingers run down the dried paint of the bolded letters, Peter’s handwriting unmistakable.

“Boss, Peter instructed for you to watch the link I sent you once you arrived at the kitchen.”

Instantly after that announcement, Tony’s watch rings in a notification, which he clicks as soon as he receives it. When the hologram begins, it’s Peter’s face that greets him right up front in the camera, adjusting it and asking whoever is holding it if they are okay doing so. When the person assures him of the hold around the device, he recognizes Pepper’s voice. Peter then stands back, only seen from his waist up, in his black sweater with the mini Hulks splattered all around the sleeves of it. 

He clears his throat, wearing his frames and a big smile. 

“_Hello, there, Mr. Stark. If you are watching this video, it means you made it to the kitchen. Good job_.” Pepper’s giggles in the background make this all the more ridiculous and making it practically impossible for Tony to not giggle along with them. 

“_So let's get down to business here, uh_,” the kid claps his hand and looks over his shoulder to the counter behind him where the picture is already set up, “_this is called_ Tony Stark’s Birthday Week Celebration.” He starts to pace as he begins to talk, graceful and all business-like and Tony wants to pinch his nose because he doesn’t know what else to do at the sight. 

“_It’s simple: every day until next Wednesday, your actual birthday, we will have an activity and you cannot refuse to participate. Everyone’s in on it, so don’t even bother asking around for details. Those will be given to you at the proper time. That’s right_,” he says, turning to the camera, eyes intent, finger pointing at it. “_When I say everyone, I mean everyone. From Happy_,” and then Peter pulls an actual picture of Happy out of the pocket of his hoodie. Tony drops his head back in a roaring laugh because the kid would. “_Uncle Rhodey,_” with a picture of him also included, “_Vision for the days that he is here_.” Peter pulls out a picture of a computer this time and Tony almost chokes on his own spit when he sees it. Peter doesn't react as he waits for Pepper to cease her laughter, Tony covering his grin behind the palm of his hand. 

When she recovers, Peter clears his throat and continues on. All business. 

“_And of course, my executive producers, whom without their help, none of this would be possible: mom and the tiny human. Show your faces, please_.” The kid starts clapping and Pepper flips the camera over so that her face is taking up the whole frame, her freckles present, her hair down with a smile that's coming for Tony's whole existence. She then sets the camera on a surface high enough for her to step back from the shot to show the hem of her pajama shirt, completing the ensemble of the most endearing picture. “_Tiny Human_," Peter calls from behind her, sticking his head out so that he's in the shot for a brief moment before Pepper is poking her stomach out towards it. 

Tony is suffocating with the love he receives from his people, _because_ of the love for his people. 

The camera is picked up again and it's back on Peter, Pepper taking a few seconds before she centers the shot. It doesn't seem to bother Peter she isn't quite ready because he continues on with his announcements whether the camera is adjusted or not.

“_Now, some adjustments have to be made, such as: I cannot wear the watch this week because you,” _he points his finger to the camera again, “_cannot know my location_.”

“_Which means you’ll be on your best behavior, correct_?” Pepper calls over. Peter nods the minute Pepper begins speaking, solemn and eyes close in agreement. 

“He’s an actor, this spiderbaby,” Tony lets out in a breathless laugh.

“_Correct. I won’t be able to patrol as much this week, which Vision has offered to help with, if he’s needed at all. So yes. Watch will be off but I won’t be out of reach and Ryan will be with me most of this week. Good_?”

“_Good_,” Pepper concurs.

“_Next: dining schedules. We all agreed to breakfast or dinner or _both_. All of us, together. Jenna ran some great ideas by me and just know it's going to be awesome. I kinda wanted to start today with breakfast but, obviously, dad, you failed because you’re still asleep and I have to go to school. But that’s okay! We will roll with the punches, okay?! Great!_”

Peter takes his phone out of the pocket the pictures came from and glances at it, eyes refocusing on the camera immediately after. 

“_Activities for the day will be revealed on that day. Not before. Pepper will be helping you with attire and what you’ll need, should you need anything. That is all for now. I hope you slept well. Pepper, anything you’d like to add?”_

“_Uh, nope. I think that pretty much covers it_.”

“_Peter, Ryan is ready for you,_” FRIDAY calls overhead on the video. The kid looks up and then bends down and straightens back up with his bag in hand and slings it over his shoulders. 

“_That’s my cue. I’ll see you after four. Love you, dad. You can stop it now_,” Peter calls and when he positions his hand to shot a web to the camera with a wink and a hint of a grin, the video ends. 

Tony has to take a deep breath when it’s over. His face is sore from smiling so much as his eyes land on the picture again. With a shake of his head in a small chuckle, he takes his phone out and begins to type message. 

**Itsy Bitsy Stark, Fiancee Potts, Rhodeylove, Forehead of Security Hogan**

**Soooo, you really can't spill?**

**Fiancee Potts: muahaha >:)**

**Rhodeylove: We’re under oath. We can’t spill.**

**Rhodeylove: Don’t text me on the side, Tony. I just said we’re under oath. **

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: #teamwarmachine**

**Forehead of Security Hogan: Link: Celebrate - Kool & The Gang **

**First of all, you can link things now?!**

**You’re growing up so fast, Happy**

**Second**

**I know you didn’t just.. **

**Use your linking powers **

**To send that**

**Fiancee Potts: I’m not saying anything either! Stop texting me! **

**Fiancee Potts: Happy! Yes! **

**Rhodeylove: I can’t stop laughing. Happy, that’s great**

**Forehead of Security Hogan: I do what I can**

**And that’s all I can ask for, Hogan. **

**Peter, did you BLOCK my individual messages to you?**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: ily happy ily**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: I can’t risk your sweet talking, my guy**

**Just want you to know what car I’m gonna let you use.**

**You know, for your driving lessons**

**Maybe we can get you behind the wheel for one of the events you planned for me**

**Which one is the closest location?**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: i’m officially tired of you**

**Rhodeylove: Ignore him. Pete, school? Don’t get distracted**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: in history & politics atm :)**

**Rhodeylove: Shouldn’t you be paying attention?**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: reviewing for finals all of this week & the next**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: this class took a turn, uncle Rhodey**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: trust me **

**Hang in there, kid. Almost done**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: can’t wait **

The three of them go visit Lily. It's something Pepper hasn't been comfortable with for a while now but Peter really wanted to see Lily's reaction to the news of the pregnancy, even when the chances of an appropriate reaction to the news are slim.

True to her condition, she is not better. She sees Pepper and asks her if she's her new nurse; Tony has to look down for a moment at the question with his hands on the kid's shoulders as he stands in front of him. He sees the apologies in Lily's eyes when Pepper kneels down in front of her and takes her hand, assuring her that everything is okay when she reintroduces herself. But Lily keeps looking back at Peter when she hears Pepper's words, Tony giving his shoulders a gentle squeeze. Pepper stands back up at the question of her relation to Peter, looking back to Tony as she stalls for an answer with her eyes on him, but it's who Peter takes a step forward, introducing himself as her grandson and answering all questions, previous and forthcoming, with his answer. 

"I have pictures. You wanna see?"

If he’s going to have more children like Peter, then by all means, he’s ready to welcome them all. 

Tony's chest tightens when she takes his offer and has Peter sit next to her, the kid explaining how the phone works as he begins to scroll through the pictures of him when he was a baby, the exploded view revealing what he shows Lily. There are a couple of shots with them together in the kitchen, Peter learning how to cook as he stood on a stool by her counter. She lingers on those and the ones from Christmas, Lily's first time coming to the tower after the California move. 

It's hard to accept this is the same woman who gave him an earful on the phone when he tried to compensate her for the soup she made for Peter on his fourth birthday. Or when he met her, officially, a few weeks after his and Pepper's first date. It wasn't easy to get her to warm up to him at the beginning of their relationship but they arrived because of their love for Pepper. Being disliked wasn't exactly new for him but she respected Pepper's decision and eventually accepted him. Peter was a great help in opening that door for Tony to walk through, and seeing her like this gets harder to witness. 

The effect on Lily's condition does a number on Pepper he can't repair, and Tony feels useless because there is nothing he can do. So when she asks him to stay with them while she goes and speaks to Anna in the other room, Tony nods and settles on the couch across from the one where Peter and she sit. His mind tries to wrap around it, how it was mere weeks ago that things were stable. They had time. He tries to understand how her condition worsened so suddenly, one day to the next. It started small and then she forgot how to get back home, forgot that she _ was _ home and the neighbors would walk her back while Pepper was on the phone and on her way to her. They got an overnight nurse after that and it was as if that's all Lily was waiting for to let go. Almost immediately after Anna's hire, Lily’s memory left her altogether. It comes back on occasion. More often than not, it stays gone. 

Pepper's heart is broken because of it and Tony has no idea what to do to help. He can't fix this one. 

"You remind me of my daughter's boyfriend."

"I do?"

Lily nods, touching Peter's cheek with a fondness that takes Tony by surprise. "Kind eyes," she supplies with a grin. 

"Her boyfriend has kind eyes?" Peter asks, his voice young and curious.

Tony watches Lily nod, bringing her hand down and telling Peter that "Ginny's boyfriend's a little out there but he's a good man. I like him. He grew on me."

Peter gives her a small smile but Lily's wavers as she looks to Tony then back to Peter.

"Who are you?"

"I'm your grandson, Peter." He doesn't falter at his answer, warm and patient.

Lily's eyes water this time around when she seems to want to speak on what Peter tells her but hesitates, and then all recognition leaves her again. 

Peter looks at Tony in worry when Lily looks afraid of Peter's sudden proximity to her. Her eyes dart to Tony and when he stands, it sets her on edge. He kneels in front of her as he quietly tells Peter to go grab Anna. When she looks at Tony, he sees the desperation in her eyes; she tries to stand to get away from him, unable to override her panic. She refuses Tony's help in whatever way he offers it, putting up a fight and determined to get away since he won't retreat. 

He has to let her get her hits in because he doesn't want to hurt her by trying to stop her from trying to run. Her need to get him away from her gives her a spur of strength enough to push Tony back and down. He lands with his hands behind him for support, and Anna steps in between them and sedates her right on her seat when it happens. With his heart at his throat, he stays still on the ground, in complete disarray as Lily's screams turn into soft cries and then to whimpers moments after that.

Peter gives Tony a hand, and he takes it in silence while Anna tells Pepper it is best to take her to room. Anna begins to attempt to soothe Lily as she tells her she's going to be okay, that she's just going to lay down for a bit. It doesn't seem to help because Lily, tired and winded, cries at the sound of Anna's words. It's taking Tony a lot to recover because there is almost no trace of the Lily that he knew and if this is what it does to him to see her this way, he doesn't want to imagine what Pepper is thinking, what she's feeling. 

Anna gets Lily to agree to head to the room and before they can begin to get her up from her seat, he calls Pepper. 

"Yeah," she says, her eyes wide, red-rimmed and distracted when she glances his way.

"We can get her to bed, Pepper," Peter finishes the offer as he steps next to Anna, who takes the chance to get Lily's bedroom set up. Pepper steps aside for Tony to grab hold of Lily.

He and Peter get her up carefully, Tony putting very little effort because Peter takes most of her weight upon him when they get her to stand, holding her up and guiding her to her bedroom. Pepper stands behind them, telling them to be careful, her voice shaky when she speaks. 

Lily cries as they guide her to her room, cries while they hold her, cries as Tony helps her to her bed, the kid staying out when Tony asked him to do so after when they reached the bedroom door. Tony swallows the lump that’s in his throat once she's settled and steps out of the room, leaving Pepper and Anna inside to tend to her. Tony finds Peter right outside the door with worry all over his face and kneading his right fingers into the palm of his left hand. He stops before him, the kid pointing out that his forehead is bleeding. When he looks at his fingers after touching the sting he begins to acknowledge, they’re tainted crimson.

Tony sits next to Peter on the couch, holding a tissue to the side of his forehead to stop the bleeding when Pepper comes out of Lily's bedroom a few minutes later.

"Is she okay?"

They both stand at Peter's question. The exhaustion and the sadness is right in her dimmed blue eyes. She nods her head, hands in the back pocket of her jeans as she exhales a breath. Tony takes a step closer to her and Pepper runs her fingers through her hair when she looks his way at him. 

Her expression changes, a small surprise in her stare. "Oh my—you're bleeding," she points out, walking over to him, "Peter, can you—there's—"

"Pepper," Tony says, gently taking the hand that reaches for his forehead and holding it in his.

"No, you—Peter, the first aid kit, under the sink. Can—"

"_Honey_," he softly calls, squeezing her hand and she stares at him without saying a word. Her eyes well up the longer they look back at him. 

Peter moves over to stand between them and facing her and without a word, goes in for a hug. Pepper lets go of a very faint and shaky breath at the touch and wraps her arms around the kid, dropping her chin on top of his head and shutting her eyes. With an exhale of a breath of his own, Tony takes a closer step toward them and brings his forehead to rest to the side of hers for a moment after he plants a soft kiss to it.

He decides to let her dress his cut while they wait for Anna to come out of Lily's room.

After Anna assures things will be okay once Lily has rested, after confirmation of correct phone numbers in case anything _does_ happen, that is when Pepper feels better going back home with him and Peter. 

They don't tell Lily about the baby. 

**Track III**

**Thursday. Day 2. **

“So that’s it? You’re really not gonna tell me? It’s _ my _birthday week, why can’t I know what’s coming?”

Tony’s back is against the headboard as Pepper is kneeling over him with her hair loose and her face bare with all her freckles on display. She bites down her smirk as she redresses his small cut from yesterday’s incident, applying the ointment and a new band-aid. Once done, she sits back with a small sigh while continuing to stare at him in a brief silence. 

“I’m sorry,” she apologizes.

“Nothing to be sorry for, alright?”

“Okay,” she whispers, their eyes still on each other.

“Okay,” he repeats and takes her hand, pressing his lips to it. 

They woke up around the same time, about 45 minutes before sunrise. When he had returned from the bathroom, she had woken up and had asked for him to go back to bed, to not go yet. To stay with her. So he did because there is no other place he’d rather be on this bright and early spring day. They start the day by sending Anna a message to check up on Lily and briefly speaking about when to tell the rest of the family about the pregnancy. Pepper wants Lily to be the first to know and Tony wants to give her the world, so they agree on waiting to tell the rest of the family until she’s ready for the news. 

“I’ll call Peter’s pediatrician today,” he says.

“Yes, he’s excellent. Dr. Riley recommended some great ones too.”

Tony nods, taking her hand in his again. “Maybe we can get a picture for Lily? You think it’ll help?”

She shrugs, hoping it does. 

“I have pictures of the lakehouse. You ready to see them?" he asks and Pepper nods, enthused and settling next to him as he reaches for the Starkpad on his nightstand to give to her. 

As soon as the file is opened, Pepper gets completely lost in the furnishing of it, telling him they can go see it tomorrow morning as they pick and choose what to have shipped in the next 24 hours if tomorrow morning is a done deal. The baby is Tony’s chance to start over with her, to start with a quiet, peaceful life. As peaceful as Peter allows it to be, that menace. He chuckles at the thought of Tony enjoying his serenity out on the porch and Peter running around screaming and laughing with a little brother chasing after him. What a life.

“What have you got going on today?” Pepper asks as she puts the Starkpad on her nightstand and settles back against the headboard, Tony’s hand on her stomach as he continues to sit next to her. 

“All those meetings you’re forcing me to go to.”

“Right,” she smirks with a single nod, her hand landing on top of his. Tony shuts his eyes and it lasts all of a second because right at that moment, there’s a knock to the door. 

Tony asks FRIDAY for the hour. Peter's got time so he answers the knock, opening his eyes.

“Oh, who could that be, I wonder. Someone that should be getting ready for school?”

The door opens just enough for Peter’s head to fit through the crack with his big, bright smile. 

“Hi!”

“Hi!” Tony mocks, “let me see what you’re wearing,” he demands because if he’s still in his pajamas, he’s in for a world of pain. 

Peter pulls a face and shakes his head to regroup, asking if he can come in. 

“Come in, come in!” Pepper calls, sitting up and crossing her legs under the blanket that covers them waist down as she waves him over. Tony holds the bridge of his nose when Peter opens the door in his Hulk pajamas. 

“Kid, why are you not dressed for school yet?”

Peter stops on his tracks and looks at Pepper as he stands in the middle of the room. 

“Oh!” The epiphany hits her when Peter’s eyes land on her. She turns to Tony and puts a piece of her hair behind her ear as she tells him about Peter’s stay home proposition. “As part of the birthday week celebration, just for today, no school. There was no other way around it.”

“Uuuuuhhh—” 

“I called the school already. Ned will be supplying the review sheets and whatever work he misses.”

Tony looks at Peter who breaks into a smile and a wave with a small “hi.” With a sigh, he waves Peter over to the bed and the kid rushes to take a spot on the mattress, walking around it and climbing on it from Tony’s side. He sits across from them, in the middle of the bed on top of the blanket that covers Pepper and Tony. 

“Pepper. Dad. Tiny human.”

When Tony looks at Pepper, she greets Peter in a graceful nod that tells Tony he is certainly not in the loop. He's completely out. 

“I don’t like this,” he says as his eyes go back and forth between the two.

“Are you hungry?” Peter asks and Pepper bursts into quiet snickers, muffling them behind her hand. 

“What?”

“Breakfast, are you up for breakfast?”

“I—you’re taking all my appetite away.”

Peter rolls his eyes with a grin as he gets off the bed and heads to the door again. Pepper is chuckling away, biting her smile down when she turns to Tony; her excitement comes across on the smile she can’t hide anymore when he faces her and it makes his love for her, surprise surprise, grow fonder.

Peter is reentering the bedroom while balancing two trays of food in his hands, alarming Tony until he realizes the trays are probably stuck to his fingers until the kid decides otherwise. Pepper begins to get off the bed to help him but he tells her he’s got it handled as he reaches the bed, handing her one of the trays when he's close. She gives that one to Tony and settles the other one on her lap.

“Breakfast is served!”

“You made this?” Tony’s impressed as he looks back up at the kid, catching him run his hand through his hair to get the few strays back from his forehead. 

“I’m your _ son. _ Can _ you _ cook?”

Tony’s face falls, glaring at the menace he could not live without as he begins to walk back to the door. “What does one thing have to do with the other?”

“Apparently everything,” Peter loudly responds from the door and walks in with a third tray.

“So, Jenna?” Tony asks, looking at Pepper who is taking a piece of fruit from her fruit cup as she looks at Tony with a hum and headnod in confirmation. 

He watches her for a moment as Peter settles back on his spot and when she notices Tony doing so, she stops chewing as her hand begins to stir the honey she put in her tea.

“What?” she asks around her bite, bringing her hand to cover her mouth.

Tony shakes his head with a small grin and then turns to Peter when he hears him speak with his mouth full already. 

“He loves you,” he manages to say around a mouthful of food, moving stuff around in his plate. “Right?” Peter looks between Tony and Pepper when he speaks again, picking up a piece of his small baguette. Pepper chuckles again and Tony can’t help the way it bubbles inside him too. 

“Eat your food,” he tells the kid, his smirk sneaking through. 

“Told you,” he says to Pepper, pointing his piece of bread at her. 

Tony grabs his cup of coffee, admiring the details on his tray. He looks up at Peter and Pepper exchanging fruit and conversation, the smile as Tony brings his cup to his lips the sweetest. 

Lately, Tony has been wondering if he would laugh as much as he does were Peter not be in his life. It just sort of..happens around him; whether they’re laughing with him or at his more-often-than-not ridiculous ways to go about life, the glee is unescapable when Peter is around. After breakfast is long over, trays are back in the kitchen and Tony gives him his undivided attention, there's a moment in the story where Pepper is unable to hold her water as it spills from her mouth back on the cup when the kid shares anecdotes about school and the things the people say to him when he's out in Queen's as Spider-Man.

Tony is wiping tears at the corner of his eyes from laughter and he watches Peter laugh to himself with a far off look when he quietly speaks. 

“I love the people of Queens.” 

There’s a moment of silence between them, Peter still in what seems to be a pleasant thought as he lowers his head. Tony feels Pepper's hand squeezing his under the blanket as she settles her cup of water on the coaster on her nightstand. 

“Especially the middle school kids who ask you to do a flip every day,” Tony points out and Peter lifts his head with a sharp inhale of breath, seeming to settle back in the room. He nods in between chuckles in agreement with Tony. 

“They’re the reason I wake up in the morning, dad. They’re my _ guys._” He touches his chest in exaggerated fondness, Tony’s small chuckle met with a full smile from Spider-Man. 

“You know Peter,” Pepper says, and squeezes Tony’s hand again as she starts, not letting it go. He looks at her and it suddenly becomes clear what she's about to say, “I want to apologize.”

Tony looks at Peter, who’s facing Pepper but his eyes travel back to Tony in confusion and quickly refocus back to her. 

“Apologize? For what?”

She puts her head down as she draws a breath and sits up a bit, hesitant. Tony secures his hold on her hand. When she looks back up at Peter as she begins talking about the night Peter was born, Peter’s hint of a smile disappears as she continues.

She speaks of them becoming a family now and her voice breaks when she tells him how grateful she is that Tony didn’t listen to her about giving him up, about leaving him in the hands of the state. She then turns to Tony and apologizes to him for not believing he could do it, something she has already apologized for before, something Tony appreciates but it isn’t necessary. He knows Pepper was concerned and with reason. He wasn’t the most responsible-put-together candidate to take care of a child. 

“I knew that you could do it but not knowing if _you_ knew you could scared me enough to try to talk you out of it. I should’ve helped more that night.”

“You raised this contraption, Pep, what are you talking about? He trapped you too! The moment you held him. Or don’t you remember how I almost fired you because you practically forgot I _ existed_?”

She rolls her eyes with a shake of her head and Tony can see the inkling of a smile on her lips when she does. He picks up her hand and brings it to his lips with a soft kiss to it when she whispers her apology again anyway. 

“You had his best interest at heart. Can’t fault you for that. It’s done. We did okay. Look at him.”

And when they do, Peter is staring at Pepper, his expression solemn but his eyes are warm, Peter’s real superpower always being that kindness that leaves Tony out of sorts. He gives Pepper a small wave with a lopsided grin, not sharing a word. 

“I guess my experience with my parents clouded my judgment. I’m sorry, Peter.” 

The kid looks at Tony in question and he nods to confirm what he knows Peter is thinking. Pepper reaches for his hand and Peter inches closer towards Pepper and lets her take it.

“Okay,” Peter comforts, his eyes boring in hers. “Okay.”

“Safe space, kid. What is it?” Tony quietly asks him when he notices his hesitance. 

“I'm a little hurt,” he confesses with his eyes to her and not letting go of her hand, “what do you mean ‘now that we’re a family’? I thought..we always were. Way before the ring was involved.”

Pepper breathes out a choked chuckle and stares at Peter for a second before she gets on her knees and leans forward to drop a kiss to his forehead. There aren’t words to describe how proud he is of his son in that moment. 

“I love you, Pep, but if I have to remind you that you’re as much part of this family as any one of us...I’m not getting any younger. You should know this already.”

Tony bites his lower lip to suppress his smile as he reaches for Peter to pinch his nose, which Peter puts little to no effort in preventing from happening while holding back his amusement. 

“Hey, I’m just saying—okay, okay!” Peter says between his laughter when Tony achieves his objective, proud. Very proud of Peter. 

Very much in love with his heart. 

“Before I was even born,” the kid assures as he lets go of her hand. “Fact check?”

“Absolutely,” Tony automatically answers to the call. 

Pepper grins in understanding and Peter returns the gesture. 

Three whole seconds, a sigh and then, “you can ask whatever you want to know,” Pepper tells the kid.

“Well,” he starts with his voice higher than normal as he drags out the word, hesitantly opening his mouth to speak but at the end decides not to. 

“Go ahead,” Tony encourages when Peter’s eyes land on him.

Peter turns to Pepper then and asks, “What did you mean when you said your parents clouded your judgment?”

"I'm adopted."

"Really?"

She nods, telling him that she was a premature baby and had to stay in the NICU when she was born, that her parents were returning home to get a few things for their overnight stay but there was a fire and they never made it out of the house.

“No will, no legal protection so I was state property.”

“Were you in the system long?”

She shakes her head. “Mom was my attending nurse at the time. She followed my entire process so by the time I had to be released to the state, she took me in with dad.”

“Wow,” Peter breathes out and gives her his condolences on her biological parents. With her gratitude, she reminds Peter of Lilianna and Andrew, who took her in and raised her better than she could’ve ever asked anyone to do. 

“You don't talk about Andrew a lot,” Peter points out, completely engaged in conversation. Tony listens to them as he drops his head back against the headboard, his eyes on the pair. 

With a shake of her head, she chooses to do so then, telling Peter that she was thirteen when he passed. “Cancer,” she says, “he was an accountant too. He used to always explain to me what he was doing until I was old enough to be part of it. Taught me to love numbers.”

Peter smiles at the picture Pepper paints and Tony admires how she always speaks about her father without torment or shame, or any type of overwhelming sadness. Tony wishes that he could've met him whenever Pepper speaks of him. 

Peter’s eyes turn to Tony and all fondness and love leaves the kid's face when he addresses him. 

“You knew?”

“Not always.”

His face is serious when he says, “no more adoption jokes! That’s rude and insensitive, dad!”

Tony straightens his back ready to defend himself but Pepper leaves him with his words in his mouth when she intervenes. 

“Oh, that’s fine. Really. Besides, it was my joke. He stole it.”

“What?!—Okay,” he tries to placate, raising his hands, “time out. Who says I’m _ joking_?”

Pepper lets out a full laugh as Peter grabs the pillow that’s beside him and throws it at Tony’s face.

“Okay, I have one for you, Pepper,” Peter asks as he settles back on the same spot he has occupied since earlier today, adjusting his camera for the video. “When did you decide to give dad his shot?”

Peter has been recording everything lately; they don’t question it.

“What happened when you said, 'huh, maybe it won't be so bad?'”

She turns to Tony, who wiggles his eyebrows and answers for her. “The minute she laid eyes on me.”

“Oh, _ please!_” she exclaims, “I wanted to kick you in the shins the entire duration of my first year as your PA.”

“Ha!” Tony lets out in amusement and reaches over for the water Peter brought back when he went to get his camera. Pepper’s on her third water bottle, matching her trips to the bathroom, and her saltines are about half way atop her nightstand. 

“Disney Concert Hall.”

“Uh-huh. What happened?”

“Oh, man,” Tony sighs out as he scratches his forehead, remembering. She puts her hand on his leg as she begins to speak, an indication that he should just let this one go. 

“He asked me to dance which wasn't wise at the time because he was my boss, and he was _ him,_ and I had on this..ridiculous dress—”

“She looked _great_,” Tony clarifies to the camera and then to her, “don’t mislead the kid.”

She pats his leg again and continues to rest her hand on it as she speaks over him with her eyes to Peter, who breaks into a smile with his focus on the recording. 

“So, he said he’ll fire me to take the edge off—”

“I was trying to help you. If it’s any consolation—”

“It’s not,” she quickly adds, still facing the camera, “and I told him I didn’t think he could even tie his shoes without me.” And that traitor of a spider nods his head, moving the camera in the same gentle direction when he does it. Tony narrows his eyes at him in warning and he sticks his tongue out in Tony’s direction in response, eyes not moving from his video. 

“To which he retorted that he can make it a week.” Peter shakes his head along with the camera this time and Pepper says the next part between a soft laugh at the kid’s reaction, “so I ask him to recite his social security number.” 

She turns her head to face Tony when she says that, wearing a small grin and staring in that way that makes his heart thaw out. 

“What’d he say?”

She turns to the camera when Peter asks, and answers, “he told me yours.” She then turns back to Tony, his chest tightening, the urge to kiss the look she wears rising in him so he yields to it. When he presses his lips to hers, Peter doesn’t say anything. He pulls away with one last butterfly kiss to the tip of her nose to which her cheeks redden when he does it. Together, they face Peter again. 

The camera is still rolling as he says between his smile, “you guys are...disgusting.”

Pepper drops her mouth in feigned shock and Tony deadpans in his direction. 

“Honestly. Just gross.”

Tony throws his pillow at Peter then, who takes the hit with a light chuckle and the camera standing strong.

“Get out.”

By 10:30, scientist to scientist, they are completely lost in conversation. Pepper gets comfortable against the headboard with the pillow ensemble Tony helps her arrange while he speaks to Peter; she works on the Starkpad while the Stark boys converse. His memory about Peter’s brilliance when they sit and discuss ideas, projects, leaves him full of that warmth the kid so easily invokes upon him. It’s the most fun he’s had in a while, his hand subconsciously on Pepper’s stomach as Peter shows Tony that they share more than the color of their irises. He never thought he would be so okay with that discovery.

The future is in great hands if Peter wants any part of it. And it sounds like he does. 

“Okay, we’ll continue this later. Right now it’s..” the kid looks over the clock on the nightstand, “about to be 11 o’clock and your first meeting today is at 11:30 so let’s get a move on.”

Tony looks at the clock as Peter begins to climb off the bed, camera and phone in hand as he heads towards the door. When he exits the room, he returns just as fast, a big golden box with a bit red bow on top of it in his hands. Pepper sits up at the sight of it and sets the Starkpad down. 

“Make sure these are on when you hit the floors.”

“Your outfit is pressed and ready in the closet,” Pepper says, and looks up to Peter, who gives her a high five with a “yesss.”

Tony looks at the box and then up at Peter, now standing by Pepper as she moves so that she's directly facing Tony now. Peter turns on the camera and the little red bulb starts to flicker, indicating a video is in session.

“Uuh..”

“Open it!” 

And when he does, inside there is a pair of Iron Man impala quad roller skates. He lifts his eyes to Peter then back at the box. When he picks up one of them, he can't help but to gawk: the arc reactor on the outside of it with the golden laces, the details of the red uppuer body of the armor well captured. He closes his mouth and swallows. He frickin' loves them. Without a word, his eyes are on Peter again. 

“These are your old skates from that Christmas Pepper gave us each a pair. We made some calls for redesign. What do you think?”

Tony cannot believe Peter still remembers that. He also can’t believe the kid went through his things to get these but he can't seem to escape his pleasant surprise to fake a scolding at the moment. 

“No need for rebreaking so you're good to go. Pepper was gonna do it with us but after we found out about the Tiny Human, we decided to have her sit this one out.”

With the skate still in his hand, he looks them, Pepper smiling and skeptically asks, “do..what, exactly?”

Peter says nothing as he wiggles his eyebrows up and down with a mischievous smile on his face while the camera is rolling.

  
  


_ “You ready, squirt?” _

_ “Yup!” _

_ Skates on both of them, Tony has Peter’s hand in his as they step outside into the driveway of the mansion. Part of his Christmas present from Tony was the safety equipment for the skates from Pepper, and it seems that he might’ve gotten a slightly bigger size for the kid because the helmet keeps sliding down his forehead. Peter is relentless as he just pushes it back and grips tightly onto Tony’s hand. _

_ They step onto the pavement, which Tony had the driveway redone so that there could be skating with minimal falling the moment Pepper mentioned giving Peter the skates for a present. _

_ “Daddy, is Pepper gonna come see?” _

_ Tony leads him to the entrance of the highway, patting himself on the back when he sees the bench he had asked for at the end of it, directly across. _

_ “Uh, well, maybe tomorrow. It’s Christmas, kiddo. She’s going to be with her mom today.” _

_ “Can you call uncle Rhodey to come see?” Peter is looking up at Tony when he asks the question, squinting at the sun in his eyes. _

_ “How about this,” he starts, moving so that the sun hits his back and not Peter’s face, “let’s learn some tricks so when they both come, we put on a whole show for them, show ‘em what we got, deal?” _

_ “Yeah!” He responds with his whole body, hands up, and forgetting he has skates on so he loses his balance and brings Tony down with him when he tries to prevent Peter's fall._

_ Tony lands in his back and Peter’s head lands on his stomach. _

_ “You okay?” Tony asks him in between soft chuckles as he props himself up on his elbows, already stinging from the concrete. Peter pushes his helmet back up and looks up at Tony as he nods, helmet dancing around when he does. _

_ “I’m okay. We gotta practice. A _lot_.” _

_ He laughs at Peter’s serious expression when he speaks and stands up, picking up Peter in his arms and skating all the way to the bench. _

_ “Wow, daddy, you’re so good!” Peter’s admiration is the most endearing thing as Tony sets him on the bench, his feet not touching the ground as he gently swings his legs back and forth. _

_ “It’s been a while but it’s coming back to me. Let me warm up before we go together, yeah?” _

_ Pushing the helmet, Peter nods in agreement. “Okiedokie.” _

_ “That’s my boy,” he says and has Peter give him a high five as he begins to skate around his driveway, laughing at the kid’s amazement and his whooping as he watches Tony go around the driveway for a minute or so. _

Tony is standing by the elevator as Pepper helps him get into his jacket, putting his arm through the sleeves. She was right. The all-black suit was the right way to go. 

“What if I take these off? Would he know?”

“Yup.”

"How would he know? You'd tell on me, Miss. Potts?”

“Yup! But it won't come to that,” she says as she steps back once she’s done dusting his shoulders and walks around him to face him, "you want to do this as much as I want to see it play out." 

“And because I’m coming!”

Pepper smiles up at him at the sound of Peter’s voice and Tony turns around to see Peter in his own blue skates, in a black suit, white shirt and his tie matching the color of the skates. His hair is gelled back and Tony raises an eyebrow at him, Peter spinning around once and showing Tony the clip-on tie Ned let him borrow. Even wearing his bright yellow backpack over his shoulders, it doesn’t distract from the way he looks ready to take over Stark Industries. Clip-on tie matching skates and everything. It causes him to choke at the sight. 

When the kid stops right in front of him, he pushes his frames up the bridge of his nose and smiles at him. 

“Camera is in the bag. All set.”

Skates and a suit. Suddenly, the memory of Peter being four and gripping Tony’s hand on his first round in the skates morphs into this one. 

“You remember how to do this?”

“I do. I’ve practiced just so I don’t bust my face open on our way to R&D. We’re good. Let’s go!”

Peter skates inside the elevator as it opens when Pepper presses the button. 

“I have a lot of ground to cover today, kid. You sure about this?”

“I’m coming. You have no other choice but to participate, remember? So come on, we’re gonna be late.”

Tony turns to Pepper, her bright eyes full of excitement and it causes a smile to break over his face. With it, he kisses her lips goodbye and lays her hand on her stomach, telling her to call if she needs anything. 

“I'm taking a nap and I'm very much looking forward to it.”

Tony nods in approval. “Sleep well.”

“Bye, Tiny Human! Bye, Pepper!” Peter shouts from the elevator as he asks FRIDAY what the special of the day for lunch is.

Pepper chuckles as she waves at Peter, Tony taking her hand and kissing it before he walks through the elevator doors. 

Standing next to the kid with his eyes straight ahead, he asks, “clip-on tie?”

“Couldn't ask you to help. It would risk you finding out what was in the works.”

“Pepper knows how to do it.”

“She's here to help _you_. Besides, the less involvement, the better. You can teach me later.”

Tony looks at him when Peter pats his back. “In a subtle but very_ real_ way, you have too much power.”

Peter drops his head back in a roaring laugh, eliciting a smirk from Tony as he faces the elevator doors while they begin to open, putting on his glasses.

Pepper supplied every single floor of the tower with Iron Man lollipops so that Peter would grab them from where they were being kept and hand them out from his bag, hanging from his shoulders against his stomach. Each personnel they pass by receives candy from Peter. For their late and brief lunch before the next meeting, they head down to the dining hall and before they sit down to eat, Tony skates alongside him watching the smiles and the laughter from the people and Peter as he hands out the lollies.

“Here you go. Happy Tony Stark Birthday Week Celebration!” is the saying of the day. At times, there are pictures of the employees taken and other times it’s just the lollipop. Each time though, there's a smile, whether it is from his employees or Peter along Tony's "thanks, kid's excited" to the early birthday wishes.

The kid also prepares the room before the meetings take place. He places a lollipop by each chair around the table and then exits when executives begin to arrive. He does this after every meeting concludes in the conference room, and he and Tony are now inside waiting for the last meeting to start, killing time by skating around the table in opposite directions while they converse and eat their second round of lollipops. Peter is on his third. Tony promises to cancel the whole birthday week extravaganza if he ate any more sweets today. Peter promises that this was his treat. 

“You think I can go back down to the cafe? Those chicken fingers were _good_.”

“Just wait for Ryan to get here.”

“Of course. Hey, can we take the picture today?”

“We can take the picture today,” Tony agrees, taking his lollipop out of his mouth. 

“Cool. I think we covered the whole tower,” he says as he passes Tony around the table. “This is your last meeting.”

“Uh-huh. I was thinking, what do you think of giving the employees the option of wearing skates, if they want, on their birthdays?”

“Oh, that’s awesome. Yes. Do it.”

“They can pick them out and we'll sponsor if they choose to go outside of company gift. We’ll ship them a few weeks in advance so they're ready for wear in time for the big day, how about it?”

The kid loves the idea and Tony does too. He'll talk to Pepper.

Peter takes his lollipop out of his mouth and changes his course around the table to head to the door, stopping a few feet before it. He swirls around and faces Tony who is still going around the table with his eyes on Peter when he speaks. 

“They’re coming?”

The kid nods, lollipop back in his mouth. “It’s Pepper, I think. Happy's out there.”

“Yeah, she needs to be here for this one.”

Peter’s elated by her appearance when she opens the door, throwing his arms up as he greets her with a hearty, “Pepper!” He immediately goes to grab his bag from Tony’s head chair, which is now Pepper’s seat, and takes a lollipop to give to her. She takes it with a “thank you, Peter” and holds it close to her face when Peter picks up his camera from the table and snaps a picture of her big smile. He then puts his camera around his neck as Tony skates over to her, smirking while he bites his piece of candy when he comes to a halt. 

“By the way, the shipment of the approved toys was delivered to the hospital this morning. Just saw the email. You’re all set for Wednesday,” she says.

“Great,” Tony answers as he watches Pepper walk away towards the table.

“Oh, I hear them. That’s my cue.”

“Ryan’s outside for you, Peter. He's talking to Happy,” Pepper informs.

Peter nods and skates over to the seat where his bag is, takes two lollipops out it, then grabs it and slings it back around his shoulders, this time the traditional way. Pepper sets her cell phone and Starkpad down by her seat and kisses to the side of Peter’s head when he moves over to her to say his goodbyes.

“Behave,” Tony threatens when he points his lollipop at the kid as he slowly approaches him next. 

“No promises,” he answers with and stops in front of Tony, leaning his forehead in. Without thinking twice about it, Tony presses his lips to it. 

“Happy Tony Stark Birthday Week Celebration, Pepper! I love you!” he calls as he skates to open the door. 

She acknowledges his exit with the same words and an, “I love you, Peter!”

Sitting on the couch, recapping on the day with smiles and laughter in their eyes is the moment Peter chooses to capture the picture for their engagement announcement. When Rhodey and Happy make it to the early dinner that night, and Pepper’s heavenly risotto almost puts everyone in a food coma, he instructs everyone to tweet the picture at the same time.

“Same caption, add nothing else. Ready?” 

They’re sitting around the living room, glasses of wine, and sparkling water as Peter is standing before them in his Spider-Man suit, ready to take advantage of the two hours he has left before he has to be home. 

“Okay, go.”

Everyone hits send to the picture he chose of Pepper and Tony, the one where Tony is speaking with a smile on his face and Pepper is laughing at whatever he was telling her. The hand she has over her chest is the one where she wears her engagement ring, and it is clear the message they try to send. In case it isn’t, the #Pepperonytiestheknot will wipe out all confusion. 

**Track IV**

**Friday. Day 3. **

Peter makes Tony Nutella Peanutbutter toast for breakfast and tries to supplement the gesture with a green juice. Tony drinks it first because if he goes down the Nutella peanutbutter train on an empty stomach, he’ll open up Pandora’s box and that’s all he’ll make room for. When Peter is finishing pouring perspective beverages on the designated cups, and setting the green juice by Tony, FRIDAY announces Happy is on his way to the penthouse. 

“Only one toast for me,” Tony says when the kid brings the food to the dining table where, per Peter's instructions, they will be eating their meals for the rest of the week. 

Tony sits at the head of the table with Pepper to his right and Rhodey next to her. 

When Peter sees Happy, he leads him to the seat next to his.

“Sorry I’m late. Boss, we’re all set.” 

Tony addresses Happy at the same time Pepper does and with his hands raised in surrender, he seeds the floor to her while she butters her toast. With a hint of a smile, she simply says, “thank you, Happy.”

Peter then takes his seat once everything is set to his satisfaction and glances at his phone before he grabs his toast. He stops with it in his mouth, his big eyes landing on Tony who looks at him from the corner of his eyes with his elbows on the table and his chin resting on his laced fingers. 

“Uh, why aren’t you eating?” The kid leans over to him in a curious whisper when he asks.

“Why do I get this while they get that?” Tony answers the same way.

Peter looks around the table, setting his toast down and bringing his napkin to clean the corners of his mouth as he continues to speak with his voice down.

“Because the last time you had PB&N on toast was when I was _ten _and it's birthday week_._”

“Yes, but—”

“Peanut butter. _ Extra _ peanut butter.”

There’s nothing to do but stare at Peter as he picks up his toast, which is only spread with Nutella, and takes a real bite. 

“Peter, good call on these pineapples. Wow.”

The kid nods at Pepper’s acknowledgment, picking up his glass of orange juice. 

“They are so sweet, right?! When she was cutting it this morning, I almost got kicked out of the kitchen because I couldn't stop eating them.”

“This Farro bowl is outstanding too.”

“She’s excellent,” Pepper adds to Rhodey’s compliments as he takes a sip from his glass of water. “Have you tried her pot roast?”

The table choruses in their delight of it and Tony silently watches them interact amongst themselves. He looks down at his plate and picks up his toast as they go on about maybe having pot roast for dinner tonight. With the first bite, Peter looks over at him with his eyes bright and expectant as the rest of the table carries on with their conversation. Tony winks at him and sits back on his chair, the kid’s smile as he picks up his toast a great picture to start the morning. 

At exactly 10 minutes before Peter has to get going for school, FRIDAY starts playing _ Dancing Queen, _making everyone jump a little in their seat at the sudden disturbance. Tony looks up at the ceiling and then at Peter. 

“That’s my 5 minute warning,” the kid says as he’s picking up his phone off the table to glance at it, “no worries. We’re good on time.”

Pepper’s giggles make an appearance as she brings her cup of tea to her lips. When the chorus of the song comes around, Peter is singing it to his phone as he has it with the camera facing him while in his hand, most likely recording. Not much time goes by when Pepper is joining in the theatrics, singing along with him and Happy and Rhodey clap between their chuckles along with the song. 

As Peter stands from his seat, he calls FRIDAY for volume and Tony rests his head on his hand when Pepper stands up with him, watching as the two of them sing to the phone when the kid positions it in their direction. Covering his smile behind his knuckles, he follows Peter's moves while he rushes to Rhodey to give him the phone and goes back to dance with Pepper, hand in hand, free and unapologetically butchering the notes. The laugh escapes Tony and Happy at Peter’s surprised expression when Pepper takes it away during the duration of the second verse, the kid’s jaw on the floor with laughter in his eyes when he looks at Tony, who sagely nods in understanding as the kid turns his attention back to her because she sings the part perfectly. FRIDAY brings down the volume so it's Pepper's time to shine until the chorus comes back around. Tony can’t help the claps as his heart feels ready to burst. 

It’s a magnificent end to breakfast that morning, especially when the rest of the table begins to stand for the last chorus and direct their voices to him, yes, Harold Hogan freely joining in this time around. That's when Peter takes his phone back and records the moment with his front-facing camera and his face at the corner of it as he continues to sing along with everyone else. 

Tony covers his laughter behind his knuckles, taking in the attention with a shake of his head. 

That night, when Peter returns from patrol, he leaves a frame on top of Tony's side of the bed with a red bow on the corner of it. In it, Peter placed the picture they took before he left for school that morning; they’re all surrounding Tony as he sits up on his chair with a feigned deadpan look, though the glint in his eye cannot go unnoticed. Pepper is crouched down enough to be pressing her cheek to his left one and stretching her lips towards it to reach for a kiss, while Peter is also in the same posture to his right, though making a face instead of a kiss to Tony's cheek. At the sight of Rhodey behind Peter with a smirk and Tony’s mysterious bunny ears, he feels his chest warming. The laughter breaks through with Happy’s all-business expression while standing by Pepper in the shot. 

**Track V**

The goal is to spend the rest of the week just like that: with family. Peter showers Tony with his time and wacky gifts. The skates, the pictures, the T-shirt with the plethora of little red peppers and cameras all over it. Survallienced by Mark and Ryan, they get ice cream and skate around Central Park that Sunday. When they're home, they spend the rest of the time in the shop. They make the set of shooters specifically for Peter to sleep with because talking him out of doing that was a waste of time. They build, talk, and laugh and build some more until Peter goes out to Queens for the night. 

When Monday rolls around, Tony is on the couch waiting for Peter to return from patrol to show him the sonogram picture he hasn’t been able to stop staring at since this morning. The kid makes his appearance 45 minutes past curfew but Tony doesn’t plan on reprimanding. He’s been cutting into his patrol time to spend it with Tony so he can understand a little oversight in that matter. It turns out though, the reason for his lateness isn’t due to oversight, but Queens' retaliation to Peter’s need to save it. The car theft got ugly and Peter was hit by the vehicle while he tried to save the guy whose car it belonged to. Gunshots, miscalculated routes and desperation took the best of all involved.

So Tony patches him up and Pepper brings him a cup of tea as he sits on the bed of the medbay, his face blotchy from tears. Nobody says anything after the kid explains why he’s late with minimal and need-to-know details as Tony finishes restitching his arm and cleaning the cuts on his face, watching as the roadrash disappears by the time he has time to apply anything on it. Pepper sits at his bedside, holding Peter’s hand; he doesn’t protest. 

Once Tony is finished, he takes off the gloves and cleans the station with notice of how tired the kid is. Three more blinks, Tony is sure his eyes won’t open back up. When he returns to Peter’s side, Pepper stands from her seat and sits next to him, carefully placing her arm around his shoulders. The silence continues, especially when the kid drops his head against her and lets himself have a good cry, the sound of it creating a knot at the pit of Tony's stomach. With a gentle squeeze to Peter's leg, he takes Pepper's seat, slouching on it and watching as Pepper’s hold seems to keep Peter grounded. It dawns on Tony that this is the kid's first casualty. 

There is nothing quite like that sort of guilt hovering like a cloud. It might only call down the rain after its first wet monsoon but the sun is never fully out after that, a part of it always hidden by the constant threat of precipitation. 

**Track VI**

**Tuesday. Day 7.**

Tony tries to beat Peter to the punch and attempts to wake up before the kid does but by the time he reaches Peter’s room, he isn’t in his bed nor his bathroom. When he asks FRIDAY his location, he quietly makes his way to the kitchen and indeed, finds him there with Jenna as she seems to be narrating her steps to Peter. Tony stays by the entrance of the kitchen, against the wall, trying to go unseen as he watches Peter attempt to cook. 

“You got it?”

“Got it. You think I’m ready to do it on my own?”

Tony can only see the back of Jenna's head, her dark hair pulled in a bun as she turns from the stove to the counter to grab a condiment he can’t see from where he stands.

He hears the smile in her voice when she answers Peter. “I don’t know, Mr. Stark. From the stories you’ve told me, you shouldn’t even _ be _ in the kitchen.”

Peter rolls his eyes as he walks to the island and checks his phone. Nothing of interest catches his eye, so he sets it down and walks back to her, insisting that she calls him “_Peter_. If I can’t call you Mrs. Helmick, you can’t call me Mr. Stark. That,” he goes on to say, standing next to her with his back to Tony now, “is my grandfather.”

“Not your father?”

“Yes, but me saying that would make it sound like I don't wanna be like my dad. It implies he is _ uncool_, which he’s not.” Jenna grabs a small bowl and serves whatever she’s stirring in the pot to hand to Peter. “Don’t tell him I said that though,” he says as he dips his finger in the bowl and brings it to his lips. A hum of satisfaction tells Tony whatever she served is a go. 

“I’m sure he’d like hearing you think he's cool though.”

He sets the bowl down and heads to the refrigerator. Opening it, he says with a shrug, “I wanna have some fun. It's not like he doesn't _know_ I think he's cool.” 

Tony chuckles and quiets immediately after he realizes Peter’s hearing picks it up, his head snapping in Tony’s direction. He feels his face redden at the mere notion of being caught eavesdropping.

“Dad? Hey! What are you doing here? Go away!”

“Uh, I live here? ‘Morning, Jenna,” he says as he steps out from behind the wall and into the kitchen. 

“Good morning, Mr. Stark,” she greets, turning around and wiping her hands on her apron when she does. “Can I get you anything?”

“No,” Peter says when he turns around to face her, walking towards Tony, “no. Jenna is no—do not get him anything. He’s not supposed to be here,” the kid hisses. He puts his hands against Tony’s shoulders and pushes him back, Tony not fighting it because if Peter wanted to, he would’ve pushed him through the walls back to his room. Mr. Incredible style. 

“What? Why?”

“Breakfast is not for another 45 minutes! We just started! Go!” Peter looks back at Jenna, telling her to not worry and apologizes for the interruption, pushing Tony back to his initial hiding spot.

“Bye, Jenna!” Tony shouts as they disappear into the hallway. 

Peter stops pushing, looks back and then up at Tony. He’s getting tall, this terror. 

“What are you doing?!” he hisses again, “you should be sleeping! Or in the shower!” His whispers are almost frantic. Tony holds in his amusement at the way he’s all worked up. 

“I wanted to see how you were doing.”

“I’m fine!” He looks back again, then back at Tony. That’s when he notices the bags under his eyes; the sight stings. 

“Kid.”

“Yes.” But Peter is too focused on what’s going on in the kitchen to hear Tony’s question in his call, so he gently holds his face still by his chin and locks his eyes on Peter’s.

“You slept okay?”

“Yes.”

Tony waits. Peter nods.

He lets go of the kid and Peter promises he’s alright when he sees that Tony isn’t satisfied with the answers he gives him. With a nod, he wraps one arm around Peter’s shoulder, pulls him close and drops a kiss to the top of his head. 

“Let me know when the coffee is ready,” is what he says as he pulls away. 

“You got it. Good morning, dad.”

With a ruffle of the kid's hair and a grin, he begins to walk away while saying, “good morning, kid.”

Tony can’t let go of the bags under Peter’s eyes when he’s showing Pepper his edits for his photography final school year shots. He glances at his watch and then back to Peter with his lips to his cup of coffee. 

“So,” Tony says, setting his cup down, “being that it is my birthday week and all, I think I’m entitled to make requests, am I not?”

He can see his words catch Peter off guard as the kid sets his cup of orange juice down. He looks to Pepper and then back to him while speaking.

“Uh, I guess? Yeah. As long as it doesn’t interfere with the plans, I think that’s okay. What’s up?”

“What’s on the agenda today?”

Peter looks at Pepper, hesitating to speak while Tony bites into his strawberry, eyes on the kid. 

“Well, tomorrow’s the big day and I thought today we could..take it easy, kinda relax before the big finish.”

“What’d you have in mind?”

His eyes dart to Pepper again and when Tony’s eyes land on her too—hair up, bangs to the side, freckles vibrant—she shrugs in Tony’s direction with a beautiful grin. Peter’s phone vibrates on the table and he glances at it with his words at the tip of his tongue. His eyebrows knit together and he flips the phone over to hide the screen when he sets it down. When he redirects his attention to Tony, he shakes his head and exhales. 

“Everything okay?” Pepper asks. 

Peter nods, picks up his juice and takes a sip, his eyes back on his phone when he takes it in his hand while he tells Pepper about his friend not attending school today due to bad allergies with his eyes on his device as he begins to tap the screen. With another sigh, he sets the phone back down. 

“Pepper, would it be okay if you made him grandma’s soup? I can stop by with it after dinner, if that’s cool?”

She agrees, granting permission and Tony continues to watch him, asking him about his friend when the concern on his face remains. Peter picks up his phone again and begins to type when he answers. 

“Uh, Abe. We’re, um, working on a final together.” Phone is back down. Peter looks up at them again and pours some of his salsa on his omelet. 

Tony watches. Peter chews. 

“So, tonight. What are the plans?”

“Oh, yeah. I thought maybe we could spend some time together?”

“Sounds great,” Tony concurs, sitting back against his chair. 

“Yeah, by the piano.”

That he was not expecting. Peter looks between him and Pepper, suddenly nervous as Pepper gives him her full attention, elbows on the table as she props her chin against the back of her hands.

“I haven’t..played in a while and you..I think it’d be nice to do this together, don’t you think? Give Pepper a concert?”

Peter is out for Tony’s entire existence with the gestures this week. 

“You got the hospital tomorrow and then..the thing. It's is gonna be a lot of fun but you need to be rested. Trust me. So I thought this was a good compromise.”

“It sounds great, Pete. Looking forward to it.”

“Cool,” the kid answers with a smile on his face and goes back to take a bite of his eggs. Tony looks at Pepper who hasn’t moved, a grin on her lips and her eyes on Peter in the same adoration Tony feels right along with her.

“So, how are you going to handle all of that today? Patrol and all?”

Peter plans on coming home to pick up the soup, drop it off at Abe’s and then head back, eat and spend his time with Tony. 

“No Queens tonight?” Pepper asks.

“Gonna have to skip it. Vision is covering for me tomorrow, though.”

“Why don't we do this,” Tony starts, sitting up, “you go to school, Ryan will bring the soup to you when he picks you up, you guys take it, check on him. Be back by dinner and after, we do a little sparring in the gym.”

Peter sits up, eyes locking on Tony intrigued and excited.

“You—you mean, Iron Man suit and everything?”

“Yup. Iron Man to Spider-Man. I did say we’d be training to, you know, sharpen your skills. So.”

“But what about the piano? I kinda wanna do that too.”

“Then, we’ll do that too.”

“How are we gonna fit all of that in?”

“We’ll figure it out. Get the soup to Abe, make sure he’s okay, come back whenever you’re ready and we’ll take it from there.”

“Wait,” Peter says, sudden and sitting back with his hands in the air, “this is _ your _ birthday week.”

“So?”

Peter blinks. “Are you doing this for me?”

“No, solely selfish reasons.”

Not at all buying what Tony says if his face is any indication, he says, “dad, I’m serious.”

“Me too, kid. Come on, do this for me. On my birthday week,” he says, softening his voice. 

“Uh-oh. The big guns are out. He’s batting the eyelashes, Peter.”

Biting his lips to hide his smile, Peter shakes his head at Pepper’s words. 

“Please,” Tony quietly says, placing his hand on top of Peter’s and really sinking into character when he speaks again, “please, son. Do this for your father.” 

Peter laughs as Pepper raises her eyebrows, mouthing a big “wow!” to the kid.

That afternoon, Rhodey takes Tony out to lunch to their favorite place in Hoboken, overlooking the Hudson. 

He tries to bait Rhodey to spill on what he knows for tomorrow but all he does is smile at him and raise his glass of water his way. Tony chuckles and sits back against his seat, satisfied with his intake of pasta. 

“How’s Peter? Is he bouncing off the walls for tomorrow?”

“He's a vault. He can talk my ear out about anything and when it comes to the birthday thing, he shuts down. He's a con artist.”

Rhodey chuckles, taking another sip of his water, following with, “how's the gig? Is he finals ready yet?”

Tony nods and tells Rhodey the short version of the night Peter had, how he knows the kid got zero sleep last night because of it and how he is “kinda glad this whole week is almost over. He needs to rest. Wanna see if I can convince him to speak to Clarisa at least once a week.”

“I think that’s a good idea.”

“Pepper thought so too. We’ll see how it goes. You stopping by tonight?”

“Dinner, 6:30.”

“Great. You wanna join me and Peter in the gym?”

“Uh, what’s that supposed to mean?” Rhodey picks up his fork and brings his last bite to his mouth with his eyes to Tony. 

As he elaborates, Rhodey shakes his head with a roll of his eyes when he points out that he’s going to have Peter sparring with him instead while Tony sits and watches. 

“Hey, I can check out the braces linking to the suit. It’ll be fun.”

Rhodey pulls a face that indicates otherwise and Tony doesn’t react to it. When the waitress comes by to ask if they’d like a dessert menu and takes Rhodey's finished plate, Tony takes the offer and looks for a chocolate cake to bring back to Peter. 

It’s around four o’clock when Peter and Pepper enter the shop together, the volume of the music coming down as they approach him. Tony turns on his stool to face them, Peter rushing past Tony and leaping to the lone punching bag at the end of the room. He has to bring that up to the gym with the rest of the gear.

Peter latches onto the bag, Pepper and Tony watching how he clings on it for a second before he drops to the ground and gives it a few amateur punches. Tony turns back around with an exasperated sigh and drops his head on Pepper’s stomach, planting a kiss to it as he quietly says, “do not take after that maniac. Don’t do it.”

“I heard that!” Peter calls as he is now walking on the ceiling and dropping next to them, startling Pepper. The kid apologizes and smiles at Tony with a very chipper “hi!”

“How many snickers bars you had today?”

“I’m ready for tonight!”

Tony rolls his eyes and pulls Pepper over to him, guiding her to his lap. Peter begins to start punching the air, in the perfectly wrong position and timing, and he’s extremely glad Happy will be joining them for dinner too. 

“Peter. Hey. Focus up,” Tony calls, Pepper watching with amusement. She looks down at Tony and shakes her head, her grin something worthy of being taken with a kiss. So he does, brief but intent and then faces Peter again. 

DUM-E makes his way over, Peter smiling at him, patting him and promising to spend more time down here when summer comes around. 

“How was Abe?”

“You gave him the soup?”

Peter talks as he walks over to his station, DUM-E following behind him. 

“Uh, yup! I—we went to see him instead of going to drama club.”

“We?”

“MJ, Ned and I. Ryan took us,” he calls from where he stands. “We’re, um, gonna stop by tomorrow too if there isn’t a lot to do for the study sessions.”

Tony nods, looking back up at Pepper as she listens to Peter and kisses the corner of her lips as she looks down at him. 

“Everything’s okay?”

Peter appears before them and answers Pepper's question with a “yup! It’s all set!”

“Sounds good,” Tony concludes, Peter’s bags under his eyes still bothering him. “Kid, you wanna nap before dinner?”

“Nah, I’m okay. I was thinking: why don’t we do a little, you know,” and then he punches the air again, “_now _ so that we can do dinner and then play some tunes.”

“Rhodey and Happy are coming.”

“That’s for dinner, though.”

“Nope. They’re gonna join us in the gym.”

“_Awesome. _So we can play until dinner. Let’s go!”

Peter rushes over to the exit, saying goodbye to DUM-E on his way out. 

“I brought him dessert from my lunch. Not giving it to him.”

With a kiss to Tony’s forehead, Pepper stands and tells him she’ll meet him upstairs. 

They sit at the grand piano in the living room, Peter telling Tony to let him warm up and asks for him to sit on the couch. With a single nod, he walks to the couch and sits at the corner closes to the kid. He puts his elbow to the armrest and waits for Peter as he sits with his legs crossed and his knuckles to his lips. 

Peter struggles to find his place for a whole of 5 seconds but then the muscle memory takes its place along with what he knows. His posture is right, hands effortlessly moving across the instrument in perfect tempo. 

He sees his mother in the blink of an eye and has to catch his breath when his chest tightens and his throat begins to hurt from the sudden need to cry. He might not put much practice into it but he has been playing since he was three, and it shows because he's still very capable and very versed when it comes to the piano. Pepper’s hand lands on Tony’s shoulders while she stands behind him and all he can do is put his own over it, watching Peter play with bits of his mother in him, of his own and even of Tony. 

He finishes with a sigh and spins around to face him and Pepper.

“That was really cool,” he says with a smile that automatically falls when his eyes land on Tony and immediately asks with mild concern, “you okay?”

Tony clears his throat and exhales, standing up and walking over to him while Pepper takes his seat on the couch.

“You’re really fricking good,” he chuckles out, ruffling the curls. 

“It was okay for someone who hasn't played in so long. Kinda miss it.”

“You think you’ll want to make more time for it?” Pepper asks from the couch, Tony walking around Peter and sitting to the left of him as he answers with an unsure “maybe,” and “depending on how this summer goes.” 

Pepper sits with her feet up, elbows on the armrest just like Tony did, and ready for the show they will surely put on. 

“FRIDAY, the music sheets. Can you pull them up on my phone please?”

Dutifully, she does as Peter requests and when the kid expands the view of one of the sheets she sends when he sets the phone down, Tony drops his head back in laughter as the kid begins to play. Pepper’s laughter is heard in Peter’s awful singing of _Dancing Queen._

When Rhodey arrives for dinner, Peter has taken Pepper’s spot on the couch as she’s leaning against the piano, singing along to Tony’s playing from sheets Peter pulled up. She smiles and laughs in between, eyes on Peter as the song finishes. When Tony turns to see Rhodey standing, _ standing, _ by Peter with his arms crossed, Tony claps his hands in a breath and a grin upon his face. 

“Platypus! You made it!”

“Don’t tell me I missed Pepper’s big number,” he says as Peter stands and greets Rhodey in a particular handshake. Shorter than his and Ned’s but unique all the same. Before Tony can address it, Pepper cuts in as she walks over to Rhodey to hug him hello. 

“Nope. Not a big number, just having some downtime with these two.”

“Pepper has a big number?” Peter asks with his eyes darting between all of them. Rhodey raises his hands indicating he’s out of this conversation with a hint of a smile on his lips. Tony moves over next to Rhodey with his eyes on Pepper then. 

He raises his eyebrows, expectant and unable to hide the way his mouth curls up in a knowing grin. All Pepper does is pretend to be in thought as she puckers her lips and looks up with her finger tapping her chin. 

“Pepper?” Tony instigates.

“Nope,” she answers and looks at Peter with a big smile full of secrets, “no big number.”

“I don’t buy it,” the kid responds, narrowing his eyes in suspicion at her. 

“There’s a song that Pepper physically can’t control herself from going all out for once it starts playing,” Tony whispers to Peter loud enough for everyone to hear.

The elevator opens then to reveal Happy, making his way to them. 

Pepper grunts, throwing her hands in frustration and walks away from them. Peter looks at Tony in a surprised smile, eyebrows raised and then goes after Pepper.

“You had to blow her spot, didn’t you?”

“What’s going on?” Happy asks in greeting when he approaches.

Tony places his hands in his pockets, the distanced voice of Peter asking Pepper to fill him in on what “dad said! Come on, Pepper! There’s a song? What is it?”

“Your father is..exaggerating,” he hears her say, and Happy turns to Tony with epiphany spelled all over his face. 

“You told Peter about the song?”

Tony turns to Happy with a questioning look. “You’ve heard her sing this?”

“I’ve heard stories and seen the clip _ you _ managed to record.”

Recalling that night, he nods and turns in the direction Pepper’s voice is coming from, chuckling in between her refusal to tell Peter what Tony meant. He turns to Happy, unphased. “I might’ve said something.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Happy says. Tony shrugs and begins to walk towards the kitchen. 

“He’s dead,” Rhodey says as they both follow after him. 

Pepper doesn’t tell Peter anything because she turns it back to Tony with Rhodey’s help with more MIT stories, some of them mentioning Howard and Maria in passing as they eat dinner at the dining room table. They carry out into stories about Peter and Tony’s very obvious similarities, which turns into stories about Peter when he was a toddler up until 20 minutes ago when he and Tony went mute from laughter. Happy’s anecdote about the two of them and their adventures right in the middle of the living room of the malibu mansion is the reason Tony’s wine comes out of his nose from laughter. 

There are cupcakes for dessert and Tony shares his with Pepper while Peter has to be restrained from eating his second one. 

“If you fill yourself up, you’ll be throwing up all over in the gym,” Rhodey called, slouching on the couch in the living room, the ambient music in the background fitting. 

“Sh. Don’t say..that word,” Tony says from where he sits on the other end of the couch, Pepper next to him in the same manner. He shakes his head, closing his eyes. 

“I’ll be fine even if I ate 20 of these, uncle Rhodey, but I won’t because you ask so nicely.”

The kid proceeds to lean back against his seat, and Tony grins as they all seem to be stuffed from dinner, though the ones heading to the gym in an hour tried to save room to eat after.

“Pepper, are you watching the training?” Peter asks. 

“No, I’m gonna check on mom now before she goes to bed.”

“Tell her I say hi, please,” he calls, too relaxed from where he sits. The rest of the room says the same to her as she stands from the couch, Tony watching her. She promises she will pass along the message. 

“So, shall we nap?”

At the sound of Peter’s suggestion, soft snickers break out, which turn into a roar of laughter again from all of them. 

They don’t nap, though they sit there, slouched and as relaxed as Tony has ever felt in a while, laughing and talking. Most conversations are between Happy and Peter as they go back and forth, because one thing Peter learned from Tony is to have a good time with his uncle Happy. Though he might sound ticked off when it happens from time to time, he has caught Happy hiding his enjoyment at their interactions when Peter has his back to him.

“I’m gonna kick your ass in the ring in 30 minutes, kid. Keep it up.”

Peter chuckles, now laying down on the ground. “Thanks for coming this week, Happy. We miss you.”

Tony shuts his eyes with a smile as he drops his head back against the headrest of the couch. He says nothing and neither does Rhodey. A moment of silence settles over them and then Happy’s voice is heard in the room again. 

“Pete. You can’t say things like that after I just threatened you.”

“So it _was_ a threat,” Peter responds from the ground. 

“Of course it was a threat! You got that same smart mouth as your dad over there. Of course it was a threat.”

“But you never threatened dad, though,” Peter points out. Tony remains still, smiling like an idiot. Pepper comes by again after grabbing a water bottle and stands behind him, right in his line of vision when Tony opens his eyes. She leans her elbows against the couch, at either side of his head and he tells her to listen. 

Tony shuts his eyes again when he hears Peter say, “you _ protect _ him.”

“It’s different.”

“How?!”

“Because he’s my boss and _ you _I _ like_,” Happy discloses and Tony bursts into laughter, along with the rest of the room except for Happy, who, when Tony sits back up with Pepper’s hand in his as he walks her over to the spot next to him, catches Happy smirking at Peter. 

The kid sits up and extends his fist toward Happy, who meets him half way with his. Tony looks over at Rhodey, who happens to turn to Tony with a grin of his own. 

“I can totally relate,” Rhodey calls when he looks in Happy’s direction.

“See?” 

Peter sits up and laughs maniacally, convincing no one because he has not a drop of evil in that spider-infused DNA of his. 

“Now all I need is Pepper and I have won!”

“Keep dreaming, spiderboy,” Tony says as Pepper chuckles. When he looks at her from the ground, she winks at the kid.

“I win!” Peter triumphantly shouts with his arms in the air. Tony groans and drops his head back against the couch, Happy and Rhodey laughing along with Peter. 

Peter warms up with Happy in the ring when it’s time. He’s fast and not half bad, but there’s a lot Happy can teach and they set up sessions to go once a week when summer starts. There are a lot of things Peter keeps signing up for this summer, making a note to talk to him about resting being part of the whole thing too. 

Sparring takes place with Rhodey, who manages to try his suit with the braces for the first time for Tony to see and there is something about watching him get inside the armor that causes Tony’s eyes to well up. He decides to not look too much into it and blinks the burn away. 

He takes it easy with Peter at first, though soon after seeing Peter’s agility, he picks up his own. Peter moves fast, transforming the minute he’s in the suit, the banter and comments making their prompt appearances. This masked vigilante can put up a pretty good fight. Not great, but enough to get him through the things he’s up against in Queens. So Tony observes while working on the Iron Spider from his phone. He hears to Rhodey’s suggestions, followed by slowed down demonstrations. He teaches, trains, and tests immediately after. And Peter works well under pressure, picks up quickly on what Rhodey tells him to work on. 

He can’t help but to be proud of him when he sees the kid utilize what he has to stop Rhodey and get a few hits in himself. 

With the colonel laying on his back on the floor, the faceplate opens and Peter offers his hand to help him up. Tony sits up, uncrosses his legs and puts his phone away as they approach the bench he sits on. His comment on Rhodey’s age is expected, and if it isn’t, then they don’t know him as well as they thought but Rhodey’s attempt to push Tony to go hand in hand with Peter shouldn’t have worked. 

“He did not let me win—this wasn’t a competition! I thought this was training!” Peter defends while Rhodey gets out of the suit. 

“If there is anyone that’s gonna let you win, it would be this guy.”

“Uh, like hell I will. I just don’t wanna hurt the kid, that’s all.” Tony leans back against the wall, crosses his leg so that his ankle rests on his knee and picks up his phone again. 

“You don't say, _ Iron man_? Why don’t we test it out?”

“Don’t worry, Pete. He’s gonna throw the whole thing.”

“You know what? I’m gonna throw _ you_, that’s what I’m gonna do,” he whispers to a smirking Rhodey as he rests his feet on the ground when he threatens his friend. 

Peter shoots a web to Tony’s phone and retracts it, taunting him about getting it back after spending 15 minutes with him. 

“Don’t hurt yourself, Tones!” Rhodey calls out as Tony stands and asks Peter for the phone back. He turns back around with a glare at his friend, who shrugs with a smile on his face. 

Tony calls in the suit and FRIDAY supplies seconds after. Before his helmet goes on, he calls Peter, giving him one last chance to give him back the phone. The kid tilts his head to the side and jumps to the wall, crawling his way to the ceiling. He webs the phone to it, right in the center of it and makes his way back down, dropping in front of Tony. 

“Let’s see who can get it first,” he challenges and slowly descends down to the ground, crouching down in that posture Tony recognizes from most of the street art around Queens: one hand holding him steady while the other ready for combat. A few more limbs and he'd look like an actual spider.

“I'm here for back up, Tony!” Rhodey shouts from where he sits. 

He glares at Rhodey and then when he turns back to face Peter, it’s almost as if he can see the kid’s antagonizing smile over his mask. 

“Come on, Mr. Stark,” Peter says, playful, “simple: whoever can get the phone first. That’s all.”

“So a race,” Tony clarifies, dropping his gaze in, unamused. Peter shakes his head in an unsure way before he answers. 

“Sure, but I get to shove aside. After all, you can fly.”

“So, a _ruthless_ race.”

“If it makes you feel better.”

Tony stares, Peter waits a moment before he tells FRIDAY to “play _ Chelsea Dagger _ until the..._race _ is over.”

He raises his eyebrow towards Peter when he hears the request. The kid shrugs in response. When the song starts to play, Peter then asks for FRIDAY to count them down into it and so, Tony’s helmet closes and it dawns on him that he’s never really utilized the suit for a fun round of Iron Man. Suddenly, he’s looking forward to it. 

“Last chance to reconsider,” Tony offers. 

Peter doesn’t say anything and slowly gives one wiggle of his fingers. 

“Okay, then,” Tony concludes as FRIDAY begins to countdown from five. “You ready?” he asks before she’s finished.

“Are _ you_?” Peter answers. Tony smirks then. He raised him right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @itsallavengers on Tumblr wrote a prompt about Tony losing a bet and having to wear skates around the tower for the rest of the day, so that's where the skating idea from Peter derived from. I am quite satisfied with the way it turned out!
> 
> Peter is a cheeky little spider aaaaaaand I love him. 
> 
> The song Tony plays is Home by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. It’s their song and I’m really happy about that tbh 
> 
> Talk to meh in the comments guisseeeeeee 
> 
> Go be happy!


	17. Act II: Light & Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More than surprises at your wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been..........................so long. Whatta trip these few months have been, OOOF.  
I just hope you are all safe and well!  
Please enjoy these long overdue updates :) and thanks for reading!

**Act II**

**Trak VII**

**Wednesday, May 29th 12:23am**

Tony is standing by his station, taking a long sip from his water bottle as he waits for FRIDAY to finish setting up his new phone. He has an icepack on his right shoulder and a great sense of pride that still circulates within him as he watches the playback of the footage that was taken during his session with Peter. 

Because Peter was out for blood in the gym. Once Rhodey activated the SIMs to make things a little more interesting, they settled and were comfortable enough to not hold back hits and tactics. They avoided each other's hits while completing and eliminating the challenges the SIMs presented in order for them to reach their goal. For a moment, Tony’s mind wasn’t able to see past the damage he wanted to cause; it wasn’t until he heard Peter’s “_ohhoho, Iron Man stepped it up a notch!_” in the midst of his laughter that Tony recentered and stopped trying to blast him through the ceiling of the gym. 

So Tony picked up speed because Peter never really slowed down anyway and when the kid swung up towards the ceiling, whooping and having too much fun, Tony came to a sudden halt to watch him in genuine awe because Spider-Man is _good. _Yes, he could use a bit of clean up, more precision but overall, he is good. The moment came to an end for Tony when Peter was crawling on the ceiling at top speed towards the webbed device, ready to retrieve it. Tony shot a blast close enough to make the kid move away from the target mere seconds before he could attain it. He flew up immediately after, barely getting there on time before Peter had another chance to reach for the phone. He shoved him aside so that FRIDAY could begin to sprinkle some of Peter's solution to unstick the prize. 

“_Well, then_,” Peter deadpanned while hanging from the ceiling with nothing but the fingertips of his hand holding him in place.

Before Tony's helmet retracted, he noticed FRIDAY's display of the HUD letting him know the song was midway of its fourth round. So he told her to let it finish, being that it played a great part in helping Tony have a complete and authentic fun experience with his son. Helmet off, he hovered in front of Peter and with a look to the device in his hand, he let go of a low whistle and gave it a small shake before he spoke. 

“_Not bad too yourself, Spider-Man,_” he complimented but Peter barely let him finish his sentence before he shot a web to the ceiling from the wrist of the hand that held him in place, and managing to launch forward and under Tony, then webbing the bottom of his boots and cutting the thrusters as he crossed over. 

Flight power compromised, his helmet went back on and he felt Peter jump on his back immediately after, speaking over Tony's commands to FRIDAY because, “_not yet, FRIDAY! Hold that order!_” It took him longer than he'd like to admit to realize that Peter was keeping him from dropping by sticking to his shoulders with his feet and right hand, while a web kept both of them in the air from his left one. 

_“Gotcha_,” he triumphantly said along with something else about finally being taller than him. 

Peter then released him without warning and managed to attach another web around Tony's wrist before gravity took its toll. Unsuccessfully, he tried to wrap his hand around whatever string of webbing he could reach. It blindsided him: how ridiculously organic and scary it all suddenly became because Peter had control over FRIDAY, and no one has ever bested him by taking control of his A.I. mid-fight. It was unnerving. 

When the pains started shooting up and down his arm, the one he fractured when he was playing catch-up at the airport, he looked up at the webbing around his wrist and then at Peter's. The kid, in all his confidence, was putting his faith in the string of web that was attached to the ceiling from his other hand while he held on to Tony with the other. It was hard to believe it wasn't rehearsed the way time worked in Peter’s favor because the song had cut off to its final note right as Tony looked up. The fun part of the race had officially ended. It was real, and being in this suit for the first time since Siberia without a proper mental warm up might've been the reason his words were caught in his throat. It was looking down and seeing Rhodey watching them in worry as he urgently activated his suit that pushed his words out like vomit.

“_PETER!_” Tony's panic came across in the shout of the kid's name because there they hung like careless monkeys, the webbing stretching at Tony’s weight. 

“_I __got you!_” was Peter’s response between his chuckle and that’s when he took notice that the webbing wasn’t actually stretching; Spider-Man was feeding the one from his wrist to the ceiling to slowly lower them to the ground while doing the same with the one wrapped around Tony's wrist.

Peter released him at a safe distance. He managed landed on his feet with his heart in his throat and struggled for a few seconds to catch his breath. The kid followed suit and dropped with a soft thud next to him, taking the phone from Tony's hand into his and snatching his mask off. He surrendered FRIDAY back to Tony's command and looked up with a big smile, too ridiculous for someone who almost gave him a heart attack and _ lost _the race.

“_Give it,_” Tony hissed as he tried to snatch the phone from him but failed when the kid stepped back before he could grab it.

“_Not used to losing, I see_.” Peter ran his hand through his hair to push back the strays that fell on his forehead when he spoke. 

There was nothing to do but to stare at him in complete disbelief, his mouth falling open as he reminded the terror of the rules and then called, “_FRIDAY?_”

“_Mr. Stark 1, Peter 0_.”

“_Best two out of three?_” Peter challenged and tossed the phone back to Tony, who had no intention of catching it. So naturally, it hit the armor and then the floor. When Peter hid his gasp behind his palm with a muffled and sincere apology, Tony's disgruntled behavior vanished almost instantly. 

There was a smile, just there, on the edge of his mouth and just like that, Peter was back in Tony's good graces. 

“_In my defense, you were supposed to catch that,_” he pointed out as he got down to grab the phone. When he stood back up, he slowly turned it to show Tony the cracked screen and apologized again. 

Rhodey met them where they stood without his suit and Peter’s face dropped as soon as he entered the circle. He began to apologize, assuring Rhodey he had calculated everything before he attempted the leap and cut Tony’s flight power. 

“_I guess I took it too far, huh,_” he admitted, sheepishly scratching the back of his head when he looked at Tony. 

“_You had me. Well done, kid._”

Peter’s eyes gleamed at the compliment and with a small nod, he responded in a quiet, “_thank you, sir_.” 

Lost in the recollection of the training session long after the footage stopped playing, he realizes that was the moment his full trust in Peter’s capabilities became real. 

Switching the ice pack to go on his left shoulder, he thanks FRIDAY for the transfer as she confirms it’s done and he heads out of the shop with his new phone in hand, telling her to please also upload the footage from the gym into his server so that he can show Pepper her acrobatic spider. Complying, she also offers him her birthday wishes that leave him with a lingering feeling of nostalgia and a particular type of sadness he knows he won’t be able to sleep off. 

**9:05am**

Waking to tender kisses around his face and a gentle, beautiful melodic voice softly singing happy birthday to him is by far the best wake up call he's ever had. 

Tony opens his eyes to Pepper’s lips on his cheek as she then sits up beside him, hair down with some of it is tucked behind her ear and her smile brighter than the sun itself. She leans back down to plant another soft peck to his nose with the sweetest of hellos. Groggy with sleep, Tony offers a small grin and seeks for her hand to hold. When he finds it, he shuts his eyes again.

“Happy birthday, you.”

Tony grimaces at her wishes and gives his head a small shake, bringing his free hand to his face and hiding behind it. She chuckles lightly and bites her lower lip when he peeks through the curtain of his fingers to see her. 

“I have to get some things from the office and then I’m off to see mom after breakfast. I plan on telling her about the baby.”

Tony begins to sit up and before he can offer to go with her, she stops him, lightly pressing her fingertips to his lips. He looks down at them and gives them a soft kiss when she tells him she’ll be fine, that they can visit her tomorrow. 

“Promise.”

He nods in agreement, holding her hand when she brings it down and looking at the ring in her finger. Her quiet sigh calls for his attention, and when they lock eyes, she speaks. 

“Peter told me you've been trying to get out of the big surprise he has for you, but I can say with confidence that this year's going to be good. You’re going to have fun.”

He ducks his head with a sigh of his own and puts his hand on her stomach instead of saying anything. The kid has already done more than enough and he's mostly going along with today for him, though he wishes he could genuinely look forward to this day without his chest tightening and the spark of his sorrow intensifying.

“You're surrounded by all of us so start getting used to the idea now.” Pepper’s smile is something he can’t wrap his head around when she places her hand on top of his. “You’ll see,” she quietly promises as she then gets on her knees and moves over to him, kissing his forehead. Tony wraps his arms around her without a word, the side of his face pressed against her stomach, not wanting to let go. She returns the gesture, holding him too.

She knows the bittersweetness that comes with this celebration. It’s something he has not been able to outrun or change. Peter helps a great deal but at the end of the day, he always returns to his bed with the ache in his chest that is never satisfied; it’s always asking for more when the middle of December comes and when summer is around the corner. Pepper has been around to witness the way those thoughts and aches appear to be the last thing he remembers before he goes to sleep whenever May is close to an end. 

Why is it that his crystal clear picture of rejection and mistakes always overpower him this way? 

Pepper shares nothing when he holds her tighter before he lets go, resting his hands on her waist. He looks up at her, her hands running through his hair, exhaling a breath and removing the bandaid from the side of his forehead.

She tilts her head slightly to the right and softly says, “all better,” with a kiss to the small cut. “Come on, Peter left breakfast on the table.”

Tony presses his lips to her stomach and drops his forehead against it with a quiet, “okay.”

She starts to get off the bed when Tony looks back up at her and he lets Pepper’s promise of a good year mark its way into him. He wants it to. More than he's ever wanted to before.

**9:55am**

With no Peter this morning, he follows Pepper’s instructions to meet him in the dining room for breakfast and finds Rhodey, Happy, and Vision surrounding the table. 

The _ second _ thing he notices after the gold and yellow balloons on the ground, the floor barely visible, is the Iron Man mantle that the table is covered by. There are three wrapped presents at the far end of it and in the center, there is a doughnut tower. It looks like an Iron Man themed party for a 10-year-old and that is why Tony is head over heels for it. Grand and exaggerated and colorful. The adults wearing party hats and blowing party horns makes it all the better until he notices the chair at the head of the table. It has been transformed into a throne, red and gold, with about 20 balloons hanging from it. All sizes, all colors.

For the fourth time this week _Dancing Queen _starts to play overhead.

Tony bends over laughing when Rhodey steps over to him and loudly wishes him a “happy birthday!” all the while confetti sprouts out of his hands as he throws it up in the air. 

“Have a doughnut! Peter decorated all of them this morning!” Pepper exclaims over the music from where she stands as Rhodey pulls away from their hug in the midst of their laughter. 

How can this not be the year?

**12:05pm**

Bringing the side of his finger to his mouth to stall the bleeding, which he didn’t even noticein the first place, he tells FRIDAY to lower the music so that he can answer Peter’s video call. Tony sits on the stool by his station as DUM-E approaches him with the first aid kit. He puts his finger in his mouth again, then looks down at it. DUM-E, impatient as can be, brings the kit close enough to the side of Tony's face when doesn't take it from his claw right away.

“Can—what is going on here? Back up, will you?”

“HAPPY BIRTHDAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYY!” Peter’s loud shriek forces Tony to face the holoscreen before him. 

“Mr. Stark, Happy birthday! I can't believe you built Peter in your lab when you were 10-years-old!”

Peter turns to face Ned, sputtering a laugh.

“What?”

Ned turns to face him then, unbothered by Peter's pleasant confusion and says with a shrug, “he turns 25 today. Do the math, dude.”

Peter drops his head back in laughter while Tony follows Peter's lead.

“Yeah, _Peter_. Do the math. Thank you, Ned.” With that, he fist bumps the camera, Ned responding in the same manner. 

Peter chuckles lightly at the interaction, Tony taking notice of the football field behind the two.

“How was breakfast? Happy birthday by the way! Happy birthday.”

With a shake of his head and a small grin as he lowers his eyes to the first aid kit he takes from DUM-E, he sets it before him and begins to tend his cut with rubbing alcohol pads. 

“Thanks, kid. Br—”

“What happened to your hand? Oh, hi, DUM-E! Um, what’s going on with the bandaids, birthday boy?”

He rolls his eyes at the nickname, though the smirk that accompanies him speaks for the lack of annoyance he tries to convey. Peter turns to face Ned before Tony answers and then, there's a pause, a momentary whoosh noise, the ruffle of the phone as it's being moved around, a distant shout, and suddenly the hum of wind is gone when Peter is in view of the camera again. He talks to Ned as they coordinate to meet up before their last class.

“Later, Mr. Stark! Happy birthday!”

“Thank you, Ned,” he calls as he wraps his finger with the vintage Harry Potter bandaids Pepper bought for Peter by the bulk. Some used to glow in the dark.

“Say kid, remember when you used the glow-in-the-dark Harry Potter bandaids and wrapped 'em around your finger nails?”

“And I shut all the lights to my room and summoned you with JARVIS' help and _jumped_ out of the closet with the glowing fingers and you screamed and I peed my pants a little from laughter? _Yes_.”

With the biggest eye roll he can muster, he asks Spider-Menace if there are any more of those left. 

There aren't. What a shame. 

As he continues the tedious process of dressing his cut with the not-so-exciting-bandaids, Peter is climbing up the bleachers where he seems to have found his perfect spot high up. When he settles on it, the camera's picture is steady and Peter’s big smile is taking up the entire screen. Tony does a double take, and then lingers on the screen, raising one eyebrow in question. Peter gives him a headnod, smile unwavering. Tony remains stoic in his silent inquiry for an explanation. The kid continues to look at him, unfaltering, and kindly says, “happy birthday.” 

Tony closes his eyes as he exhales in feigned exasperation. In genuine adoration. 

“Happy birthday!” Peter exclaims again when Tony opens his eyes, still cheerful and still radiant and very Peter. 

“Thank you, Peter.” He answers with a shake of his head and smirk on his lips that he cannot help. He then turns his eyes to his finger as he finishes dressing it. 

“You are _ welcome. _ So, tell me about breakfast. Did you like your chair?”

“I did,” Tony nods, finishing up and looking at his hand to make sure he didn’t miss anything else. 

“Dad, what. happened. to. your hand?”

He turns his face towards DUM-E, who returns with the thermos of his green smoothie. When he takes it, he explains to Peter he was working on the suit he used last night and apparently cut his finger without taking much notice. 

“You gotta be more careful.”

“I will do my best. How’s school? I’m assuming you’re on your lunch break because if you’re not, then…”

“I am, I am. Don’t worry about that.” Peter looks down and then up again with an apple in his hand, which he bites into right away. “Tell me about _ breakfast_,” he asks again around a mouthful of the fruit. 

“_Chew_, Peter. Chew, swallow your food and _ then _ you speak.”

As he waits for Peter to recall his manners, an email comes in from the pediatrician that seems to be addressed to both him and Pepper: schedules for next visits, things Pepper should be doing, things she can continue to do, information on how to help her through the pregnancy, what to look out for, and what each trimester will most likely bring. He asks FRIDAY to upload that and his own research to his private server for him to read later. 

“Done. Look.” The kid sticks his tongue out, then picks up his blue jug of water and brings it to the side of his lips, eyes on the camera as he takes to big chugs. 

“Breakfast was good. I had a doughnut and a bite of Pepper’s, which completes the quota for my sugar intake for the year.”

Peter smiles with his lips shut as he chews on his apple. 

“Did you open your presents?”

“I did,” he answers as he rolls towards the trash can on his stool to dispose of bandaid wrappers. “I got your flash drive.”

“It’s not much but I hope you like it. Your drawing's already on the fridge, did you see it?”

It was on Tony’s 35th birthday that he made Peter promise to keep drawing him originals to put on the fridge every 29th of May. And every year, there’s something from Peter on the fridge before the day is over. 

“I actually did not. Too busy trying to figure out how you got all those balloons inside the house, decorated the tower of goodies, ate breakfast and made it to school on time. I need you to rest, Peter. I'm serious. You've done enough.”

“Oh, yeah,” Peter recalls, and picks up his sub still wrapped in tin foil, “Ryan and Mark need an immediate raise. A trip to the place of their choosing, all expenses paid.”

“Kid.”

“Dad, I'm fine. I'll be sleeping this whole weekend if it makes you feel better. Don't forget about Ryan and Mark.”

Tony continues to look at him in warning. Peter promises rest is in his plans and mentions Ryan and Mark one more time.

“You got it, kiddo.” He makes a note to call them later in the day, maybe throw in suggestions on locations for that extra week vacation. 

With a grin, he turns his eyes to his sandwich as he unravels it. 

“Make sure to have something other than the smoothie for lunch. It all starts around 5. I’ll have Ryan drop me when I'm done up here.”

“Yeah, what are we doing again?” 

“Did you talk to Pepper?” Peter asks with his eyes to screen before taking a bite of his sandwich. Tony nods, taking a gulp of his juice before he stands with the kit in hand.

As he walks away from the screen, he begins to tell Peter about the instructions Pepper left for him before she left to Lily's: attire he needs, when to be ready and a warning on “the present from you because it is a tear jerker so I have to be ready for it.”

“The present's not that bad,” he promises before the sound of him taking a bite of his sandwich comes into play. And then, with what sounds like a mouth full of bread, he speaks again. “Hm, you haven’t read any of my messages either. The links I sent are worth the read. Trust, birthday boy.”

Tony returns to his seat and sits, watching Peter’s frames falling to the bridge of his nose as he takes another bite of his sandwich. He gives an uninterested shrug and says, “I trust. I don't want to open.”

“Dad!” Peter exclaims, his mouth full of food yet again. Tony glares and Peter chews his bite with a groan and roll of his eyes. He speaks once he’s done. “You’ve got to open them!”

“_Why_?”

“Just open them! It's part of the experience.”

Tony blinks. 

Peter points a finger at him as he moves in towards the camera. “It’s your birthday, you gotta do everything I say.”

“I thought—”

“Nope!” he loudly interrupts, “you thought wrong,” he finishes with his hand over his mouth, his words muffled by the food around them. 

“Must be stopped. Too. Much. Power.”

Peter smiles, big and up close to the camera with his lips closed, and cheeks flushed with food. Suddenly, Tony remembers something he should’ve done a few days ago, so he has FRIDAY send Peter the picture. This is as good a time as any. 

“What is this?” 

“Open it,” Tony instructs and then asks FRIDAY to record the conversation here on out until he tells her otherwise. He quiets as he waits for Peter’s reaction. 

The kid has FRIDAY hold the frame steady from his end so that when he picks up his phone in his hand the projection remains the same. As he taps on his phone, he continues to finish his bite while holding his sandwich in his other hand. It takes him a second; he freezes and slowly swallows the bite in his mouth, setting the sandwich down with his eyes fixed on the screen of his phone. His eyes land on Tony, then back to the device. 

“Is—what is this? Is this—is this what I think it is?”

Tony nods, biting down his smile. 

“Oh..” It’s barely audible when he speaks, his eyes glued to the phone. “It’s the first picture of the tiny human,” he breathes out. When Peter finally looks up, his eyes are big and young and shiny with unshed tears. 

“She's in there nice and comfortable. Everything is alright.”

“Dad...” And Peter goes back to the phone, the awe in his voice thick as he runs his hand through his hair and grabs a chunk of it at the top, not letting go of it as he continues speaking. “This is..I’m gonna have a little sister? We know already? Really?”

Tony shakes his head, his heart picking up speed, full of excitement that Peter radiates onto him now. “No, just me speaking into existence and whatnot. Could be a little brother.”

“Or _ sister_. Geez.._.” _he trails off in his bafflement and moves his hand out of his hair. 

Tony laughs and Peter joins him with his choked chuckle, facing the screen again. He feels like he’s standing under the sun and the clouds above him capture the thoughts that would prevent him from enjoying this celebration. They hold a promise of sunny skies and zero chance of rain. 

Yeah. This is the year. 

**3:35pm**

When Tony arrives at the tower five minutes behind schedule, Pepper and Happy are waiting for him down in the garage. He sets the drawings and birthday cards on the peninsula in passing, heading straight to the elevator with his eyes on the screen of his phone as he scrolls through the messages Peter sent him earlier today. Once in the elevator, he realizes that every single one of the texts are indeed links from different social media platforms and they are all about him. 

**Itsy Bitsy Stark **

**Link: 21 photos of Tony Stark Stealing My Heart**

**Twitter: he. [4 images attached] **

**Twitter: you hear that? Those are my cries over how much I love Tony Stark **

**Link: 15 Posts about Tony Stark That I’m Getting Tattooed**

**Twitter: Do you pronounce it “best superhero” or “Iron Man”**

**Tumblr: Can we all agree that Tony Stark **

**Twitter: **

**no one: **

**not a single soul:**

**literally nobody:**

**me: let me tell you why Tony Stark's the best avenger**

**Link: 10 Times Tony Stark Served **

**Tumblr: this was a serve. tony didn't have to do us like that**

**Twitter: If you love Tony Stark say I**

**Twitter: I will be home around 10 tn if Tony Stark wants to stop by. I'm ordering pizza. Is that okay with you Tony? Lmk. **

**Tumblr: I only show up to my science class out of respect for tony stark tbh**

**Twitter: why is tony stark such a DILF i need my life BACK**

**Twitter: like?????? she’s PEPPER POTTS AND she gets TONY STARK???? how is that even fair? why is she still HERE?? we get it Pepper. you won. you can leave now. **

**Twitter: Tony Stark being soft™ through his work to better the planet, a thread**

**Twitter: Tony Stark had absolutely no right being this perfect, a thread**

Putting his phone in the pocket of his sweater, Pepper is getting out of the car at the sight of him. She wears two low pigtails, her black leggings and running shoes. He narrows his eyes as he meets her half way, her excitement blatant on her face. 

“How was the hospital?” she quietly asks standing in front of him. 

“Fun,” he says with a brief kiss on her lips in high suspicion. She steps back with a smirk. 

Happy steps out of the driver side in his sweats, running shoes and a sweater. Rhodey’s truck pulls up into the garage, and he steps out in the same attire, his baseball cap backwards and spreading his arms as he asks, “are we ready?”

“You all know I don’t do not knowing things,” he says as he looks from one to the other standing before him with their smug looks while they share an amused look between them. How rude, really, on his birthday. Unbelievable. “Hey, don’t do that. Tell me where we’re going or I’m staying here.”

No one says anything when they face him again.

“I mean it, Pep—”

“Connecticut,” she cuts him off. 

“I—what?”

She nods. “Connecticut. That’s where we’re going. There. Now, let’s go.”

**3:52pm**

Apparently that’s all the information he is getting, so he gets inside the car with Pepper in the back seat with him. Rhodey tells him that Vision will meet them at their destination and Peter will be arriving a bit behind schedule because of school, Happy confirming with a brief mention of the conversation he had with the kid. 

“Yeah, finals are coming up,” Tony mumbles distractedly while texting the kid. Once he's done, he pockets his phone and watches Pepper lean over to speak to Rhodey in hushed voices. 

Happy turns up the radio and Tony chuckles to himself, shaking his head and sitting back against the seat. That's fine. He doesn't need to know anything. They can plan away. He won't be bothered by it.

It lasts all of two minutes. Pepper sits back against the seat with a smirk on her lips and her eyes to Tony. Suddenly sitting up, he moves in, inches from her face and quietly says, “tell me where we’re going.” 

Her lips break into a smile that takes over her entire face and she shakes her head twice with a hearty and equally quiet “nope.”

Tony loses his focus when he sees the laughter and adventure in her expression, staring at her in sudden adoration. Her soft chuckle as she drops a brief kiss to his lips before she sits back against her seat is what snaps him out of the trance.

**4:34pm**

Pepper drops her head back in a short laugh and says, “we read them together and sorted through them to see which ones would be best to send to you.”

“Of course you did.”

Before Pepper can say anything else, Queen's _Bohemian Rhapsody _starts to play through the speaker and she sits up, excitedly tapping Rhodey's shoulder, who turns to her singing along with perfect tempo. Pepper beams as she falls right into rhythm, lost in the song. 

He pulls his cell phone out to record the duet, because the pretense with the microphones and instruments is stellar; that really gets the ball rolling when the next song plays and they follow with the same enthusiasm and added dance moves—as best as they can while strapped to the seat because of their seatbelts—to Outkast’s _ Hey Ya! _

It’s a real highlight of the day because Rhodey gets even more into it than Pepper does, and Tony has tears at the corner of their eyes from laughing. He can barely catch his breath, guffawing in renewed amusement when Happy jumps into the antics as if rehearsed when Pepper and Rhodey point his way; he executes the tail end of the second bridge in a perfect tenor to match the song's and Tony loses all composure at Pepper's and Rhodey's cheering, laughing too.

It's in that moment, when he's smothering his laughter behind his hand that his mind slips for an instant. He wonders if there is a quota for such moments of freedom and unapologetic bursts of living life. He wonders if he's close to filling it yet.

**5:19pm**

Vision is 5 minutes out when they station the car in the parking of the indoor adventure park. 

“Peter really wanted this year to be nothing but fun. Real, _normal _fun, were his exact words, I believe,” Pepper says as she steps out of the car when Tony opens her door.

“We all agreed that some fun would do us some good, so the place is ours for the rest of the night,” Rhodey aids as he stands beside Pepper. Tony looks at them, looking real proud of themselves and then he turns to Happy who is walking around the car to meet them. 

When he does, he pats Tony lightly on the back. He doesn't process anything, his body moving without his permission towards the entrance of the building. It's when Happy leads them to the main door of the establishment that he is able to speak. 

“Peter thought this up?” He turns to Pepper beside him when he asks, unable to get past his initial shock. This isn't at all what he thought the kid was cooking up.

She nods in response and then he turns to Rhodey to his left. “Rhodes—”

Rhodey shakes his head, he and Pepper guiding Tony to where Happy leads them because he has no idea what his mind is trying to formulate. Uh, textbook narcissism apparently doesn't cope well with the trauma his birthday awakens when it's being forced to confront healthy sort of attention. How unnerving. 

“Whatever I cannot do, I’ll be cheering for Pepper to kick your ass in. Come on,” Rhodey encourages, “let’s go have some fun.”

The place is Iron Man themed out with banners and decorations he is sure Pepper handled. The employees are waiting for them at the entrance, welcoming Tony and his guests, and wishing him a happy birthday. Pepper asks about the food service, confirming what she and Peter worked out with the owner of the establishment, and with a giddy smile on her face, she turns to him once everything seems to be to her satisfaction.

“Ready?”

They begin to follow an employee, Daniel was what Tony heard, so they can show them the lockers and to give them their unlimited access pass. There are six and Pepper instructs for him to keep Peter's and Vision's until they have arrived.

“You know this is a setup, right?” It's the first thing Tony says as his shock begins to wear down, noticing the music they play on the speakers, a song from Tony's and Peter's playlist. He has a feeling that's not a coincidence.

“A set up? Why, because I'm gonna wipe the floor with you?” Pepper shrugs, standing back up when she takes her shoes off and stretches her arms over her head.

It's the playful tone that sets Tony back to life, the glint of amusement in Pepper's eyes that finally settles with him how big a number this gesture did on him. But then again, this is a standard reaction to Peter's spiderbrain along with his accomplices. That power the kid wields of leaving him speechless gets stronger the older they get.

“The _kid_. Peter’s gonna kick all of our asses. He’s an _acrobatic spider_,” he whispers, his nerves and excitement mixing together, feeling more at ease, as he makes his way to Rhodey.

Happy chuckles and agrees to some degree when he's done taking off his shoes, Tony swatting Rhodey's hand away from his face when he crouches down to help him with his sneakers. Casually, as if they do this all the time, Tony hands Pepper Rhodey's shoes and she takes them, setting them next to Rhodey on the bench. 

“He was really excited about this so Tony might have a point,” Rhodey points out as he extends his hand for Tony to take, giving him a boost to stand back up. 

“His excitement alone might just beat us all,” Happy concludes and Pepper asks for them to join in on the selfie for the before and after pictures.

Before they can capture it, Daniel walks into the locker room with Vision close behind. Tony shakes his head in a sort of bafflement at the sight. They are all in on this,. This is really happening. 

“Mr. Stark,” he greets with a small smile as he shakes Tony's hand, “happy birthday.”

His years with JARVIS, both A.I and human, will always leave Tony slightly out of breath when Vision is around.

“Okay, let's get this picture!” Pepper says once they greet each other.

Tony's suddenly back in his element when they gather around him with Pepper to his right as she angles her phone for the shot. She snaps a few, because Peter has corrupted every single one of them when it comes to the art of taking a simple picture. He takes the liberty of utilizing the opportunity of multiple shots to press his lips to Pepper's cheek with his eyes on the camera for the last one.

**5:36pm**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark**

**They think we can’t beat them in Laser tag. **

**It's you, Hap and me because Rhodes is a traitor**

**Shall we demonstrate when you get here?**

**omgosh! y** **ou’re there?! you made it?! **

**We made it, kid. **

**Thanks for this. **

**Nice job on the playlist by the by**

**there's a few you haven't heard on that one actually**

**but they're still good**

**If I hear **

**the Harry Potter theme **

**I'm walking out**

**LMAOOOOOO OMGOSH HOW DID I MISS THAT**

**I'm upset now. gotta have that!**

**I'll fix it when I get there!!**

** out you in front of allllll ya lil friends!**

**you're a Potterhead, so don't even try it**

**I'm going to crush you in the ring**

**I thought you wanted me in your team??????**

**I changed my mind**

**I thought we were friends??????**

**what's next?! sell me out to the dark lord?!**

**Did you just**

**I can't believe you just**

**hurts doesn't it**

**that's me every time i think about it**

**sigh. is vision there yet?**

**Yes **

**so hurry because at some point it'll be all of us against him**

**truuuuuuu **

**7:30pm**

A sore stomach from laughter and no voice is what he’ll have tomorrow to remember this day by. 

They hit every single obstacle and challenge in the rings, each time with no sign of Peter’s arrival to the venue. Finals and end of school year projects are important, and Tony knows this. Some things are hard to get out of. Tony understands, although his disappointment due to the kid’s absence as time passes only grows. 

**9:50pm**

Rhodey accepts the invitation to stay the night at the tower and after relieving Happy from driving duty, Tony realizes he’s a lot more bothered than he thought he'd be by Peter’s absence tonight. 

Later, when Tony enters New York, he finally decides to address the blinking notification of Peter's message that reads, “I’m so sorry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thrillz is an adventure park in CT.  
It's so fun. 
> 
> The links about Tony is basically what my TL on Twitter and my dashboard on Tumblr looks like. 
> 
> Yup. Tony visits the children's hospital and/or pediatric floors in hospitals on his birthday. I came across that comic panel two years ago and I haven't stopped thinking about it since. I hadda put it in here some way, so that's what that is. 
> 
> Pepper is me, I am Pepper. Music, I tell ya.  
Yikes.  
It also doesn't help that I loved Holly Holliday in Glee. Like, at all. 
> 
> Talk to me in the comments, my friends. Stay safe and well.
> 
> Go be happy!


	18. Intermission: Sirens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A right thing vs. the right thing.

**May 29th, 1:58pm**

**Ned, MJ**

**leaving**

**MJ: last decathlon meeting**

**I talked to Liz**

**dad’s birthday**

**MJ: but..you’re going to see May.**

**Ned: before his dad’s party. **

**MJ: when are you coming clean again?**

**Ned: Grabbing the stuff from my locker**

**Ned: The nose is in yours, don't forget it**

**2:35pm**

“Mr. Stark, Mr. Hogan gave me specific instructions.”

“Ryan, it’s—I have to—finals week is soon and I—”

“We have to study, Ryan,” Ned says as he sits up on his seat, grabbing his bag from the floor and bringing it to his lap. 

They are parked across the street from Ned’s apartment complex and Ryan is looking at Peter through the rearview mirror. He feels him staring down to his soul but he has to see May. She was so sick yesterday and he promised to go see her. Besides, it’ll be quick. An hour tops. 

With a sigh, Ryan tells Peter he has to inform Happy of the change of plans. As he dials Happy, Ned looks at Peter, eyes wide and nervous. Peter shakes his head subtly, hoping he can convey some sort of comfort for Ned as Happy debriefs Ryan about the change in schedule.

_We're gonna get caught!_ is what Ned's eyes are screaming at him when Ryan passes the phone back to Peter per Happy's request. 

He takes it with one last reassuring look to Ned, his own nervousness trying to crawl up and ruin everything.

“Happy!” 

That sounded genuine and Peter's stomach does a flip because he's the king of lies now, but it's all for a good cause. Soon, it will all be revealed and he'll be able to tell his dad and Pepper what's been going on. Not yet, but soon. 

“Kid, I thought you were gonna be able to leave school earlier. What’s going on?”

Peter stammers and his eyes land on Ned. “I—uh, I know. But we’re gonna go over some things. Finals week is coming and we have tons of work to catch up on still.” He glances up towards Ryan, who keeps looking at him through the rearview mirror like someone who knows a lie when he hears one.

It makes him sweat on the spot so he lowers his eyes and crosses his arm across his belly as he continues speaking to Happy. 

“We’ll be back on the road by 5 o'clock the _ latest_.”

Happy stays quiet on the line for a moment. He sighs and Peter closes his eyes in relief when he hears the demands to be quick and to put Ryan back on the phone. 

With a discreet look to Ned that the plan is a go, he waits for Ryan to finish his phone call, grabbing his bag and holding it on his lap. 

“Okay, Mr. Stark. I’ll be right here. If you are running late, let me know.”

“Thanks, Ryan,” Peter rushes to say, grabbing the door and telling Ryan to stay inside, that Peter's got it, but he gets out of the car anyway and stands by it when Peter and Ned begin slinging their bags on their shoulders once they're standing on the sidewalk. 

“Mr. Stark,” Ryan calls as Peter bends down to tie his shoes, the adrenaline building and his stomach full of butterflies, just like all the times he's done this. 

Peter stands back up with an exhale and looks up at him before they begin to cross the street. 

“If you need anything, I’m here to help in whatever way I can. Whatever you need.”

Ryan’s expression is serious, his eyes locking on Peter’s. In them, he can see his knowledge on Peter's omission. The way that comes across makes his heart race. He looks at Ned, ready to tell Ryan the truth, that he’s about to go up to Ned’s place and do an entire wardrobe change to walk the few blocks to see his sick aunt, who has no one that can take care of her except him. He's going to do it, tell him to just drop him off at May's and that he'll be back in time for his dad's party. Checking on May will be easy. It's also necessary. Ryan will understand. 

Except that maybe he won't because Ryan works for his dad and he has to answer to him before he answers to Peter.

“T-thank you, Ryan,” he tells him instead, “I promise that if..help is required, I will come to you first.”

With an approving nod, Ryan stands straight and looks both ways before he walks with them to Ned’s place. Ned’s eyes are on him and they look at each other for a moment. It's a sigh of temporary relief that escapes Peter as he walks on. 

**3:05pm**

It helps that the streets are crowded so that when he sneaks and blends into the crowds, Ryan doesn’t notice him. It also helps that he does this through the back door of Ned's building. His heart is in his throat because what if there’s a sudden gust of wind and the cap and sunglasses get blown off his face and the wig flies off along with it and people recognize him as Peter Stark and—

“Okay,” Ned says through the headphones, “it’s all set. My parents will be home by six so make sure to send Ryan messages about our progress or he will come looking for you like the last time.”

“Yup,” Peter answers, head down and three blocks away from May’s building. 

“Your dad’s trending,” Ned informs and begins to tell Peter about Iron Man’s annual visit to the children’s hospital. “We’re so lucky, dude. If she was working today, it would’ve blown everything up.”

Peter hadn’t thought about May and his dad crossing paths today. The thought of him finding out about May before Peter had a chance to tell him, on his birthday no less, makes his throat dry.

“Anyway, tell her I hope she feels better. Call me if you need me.”

He gulps down the knot that built in his throat. “Thanks, Ned.”

“No problem, Spidey. Over and out.”

Ned ends the call and Peter takes a deep breath, focused on appearing as casual as he can. 

**3:15 **

He makes it to the building without any problems and takes his sunglasses off, grateful for the contacts MJ provided. She thinks about _ everything. _It's a great addition to the team. He knocks on the door of the apartment once he’s there, the neighbor, Toby, sitting against his door with his skateboard beside him. 

“Hey, what’s up man?” he says to Peter, knees to his chest and his eyes to his phone in his hand. 

“Hey, Toby. What's going on?”

The guy shrugs with a sigh, telling Peter about his mother running late so now he has to sit out in the hallway and wait for her because he forgot his keys. 

“Let's hope she gets here before Dana’s bus does. Hungry third graders are no joke, dude.”

“I bet, yeah,” Peter grins and knocks on May’s door again. 

Almost every time Peter has made it inside this building with his blonde wig and his make-up, slightly bigger nose and light eyes, Toby has been in the halls. Peter likes Toby. They never have long conversations because May always opens the door in that time frame for Peter to enter. 

The door doesn’t open so Peter takes his phone out and sees that his dad read the messages and a small grin spreads across his face as he shakes his head and dials May’s number. As he waits for her to answer it, he removes an earbud and concentrates on what’s going on behind the wall. The TV is off in the living room and he can smell the vapor rub and Pepper’s soup. She made it for Abe, but really it was for May, enough for a few days, so May must’ve reheated some of it. When he came to see her yesterday, she had a killer headache and her fever was spiking. She refused to let Ned and MJ come and Peter had to fight her over the phone because she didn't want him to come either. But then what? She lays on her bed in agony and pain and waits it out? Adults are strange. Peter can help. People need to give him a bit more credit. 

He gets her voice mail and decides to go for the emergency key she gave him to make his way in. 

“See you later, Toby.”

“Later, dude,” he distractingly waves and Peter enters the apartment, locking the door behind him, calling for her. 

“Lilah? You’re here?”

He doesn’t wait for an answer as he heads past the kitchen and takes off his bag and wig, setting them on the table. When he reaches her bedroom door, he knocks, able to hear her breathing slightly strained but consistent. 

“May?” he calls this time around. 

A sneeze and then, “Peter? Is that you?”

Peter opens the door to find her laying down on her side, eyes on the door under layers of blankets with used tissues on the ground and on her nightstand. With a very weak smile his way, Peter stands at the door, his shoulders slumping at the sight with what he hopes is a comforting grin. 

“Hey, aunt May,” he softly says as he approaches her, “how are you feeling?”

Peter began to notice the way her eyes soften at the sound of that particular greeting; it's the physical representation of how it feels when he says it. She exhales a soft breath and as she tries to answer, she begins to cough instead. Peter grabs the glass of water on her nightstand and hands it to her as he helps her sit up. Setting it back down once she's done, he helps her bring the covers as high as her neck. Her red rimmed eyes focus on Peter.

“It all just went in an ear and out the other, didn't it?”

“I’m not leaving you like this, are you serious?”

“I’m fine,” she weakly says, attempting to smile. “I took my antibiotics and the fever will wear off as soon as they all kick in. Really. I’m fine.”

Peter shakes his head, the contacts bothering him. 

“You ate already?”

“Yes. Go. I promise I’m fine.”

Peter shakes his head at her suggestion and begins to recall all he’s learned from his dad, all he did to help Peter feel better when he used to get sick. This is..definitely a little different but still. 

“I’m gonna take these out,” he says, and makes a gesture towards his eyes, “and then I’ll clean up a bit in here, okay? You sure you ate? Not lying to make me feel better?”

“Peter, you don't need to do this. Really.”

“I'm staying. Plastic bags and detergent under the kitchen sink, right?”

May stares up at him at the sound of his question and he is sure the way her eyes tear up has nothing to do with the fever. She doesn’t say anything to him though her tears fall down the side of her face while she continues staring. 

“You don’t have to stay, Pete.” Her voice shakes when she speaks, small. 

“I want to,” he tells her then, meaning it and hoping she believes him. With a small smile, he points to the back door with his thumb over his shoulder. “I’m gonna go transform and then you tell me about where the cleaning stuff is, okay?”

She nods, sniffling and tears falling down her face. 

“Cool,” he says again and begins to walk out of the room. 

  
  


**3:50pm**

It takes a bit but May finally gives in and lets Peter clean up in her room and in the kitchen. She asks how school was while he scoops all the tissues and water bottles from the ground.

“School's almost over which I am so looking forward to,” he says as he stands straight with the plastic bag in his hand, hands gloved. "Your dance-it-out technique has not been put to use yet but trust me, it's coming.”

“Not mine, Grey's Anatomy,” she corrects. 

“Well, I'm dancing it all out soon, believe you me.” He looks at her way, wiggling his eyebrows, eliciting a grin from her. She doesn't look any better but at least she's not getting worse. 

“Shouldn’t you be sweating that fever already?”

May, clutching onto her blankets and closing in on herself, violently shakes her head with a shudder. “I’ll be okay,” she manages to get out. “Ever since I was little, allergy season went like this. With the food poisoning, it doesn't help.”

Peter sighs and decides to help the situation by throwing the tissues out in the garbage and filling up a bowl of cold water, going in the closet and grabbing a small washcloth. He brings a chair from the kitchen table to sit by May like his father did whenever Peter was battling a fever, and by the time he is settled at her side, she’s drifted off in sleep. At the touch of the towel over her forehead, her face relaxes in gratitude. 

It’s on the third time that Peter places the damp towel over her forehead that she opens her eyes and looks at him, fixed and unmoving. If she wasn't so out of it, it would certainly freak him out a little but he smiles at her, worried and really thinking about calling somebody. Maybe Ryan can be let in on the secret after all. His thoughts are interrupted by May’s soft whimpers that turn into quiet sobs, shutting her eyes tight and worrying Peter further. 

“May, what’s wrong?”

At the question, she cries harder, quietly saying Mary's name. It catches him so off guard, a lump forming in Peter’s throat, his heart picking up. She never wants to talk about Mary, never even brings her up. He was going to try and see what he could accomplish if he brought up the subway and if by some crazy miracle something would come up, but with her like this...And he doesn't want to push too far either. Whenever Mary is brought up or even hinted to be a possible topic of conversation, she dismisses it completely and changes the subject. He has so many questions but May won't even give him room to think of them. 

“He looks so much like you, Mary,” she sobs out this time, pained and pushing Peter to his limit because his shock and the way his throat closes make his eyes sting. 

He continues to put the towels over her, with comforting words and his tears fall quietly alongside hers. 

**5:18pm**

**MJ, Ned**

**I can’t leave her like this**

**MJ: what are you gonna tell your dad?**

**MJ: peter, the time’s up. you’ve got to tell him.**

**Ned: How bad is she? Should you call for help?**

Peter looks down at his phone and doesn’t respond to any of the messages. May has fallen asleep and Peter pushes his hair out of his face, for a moment considering taking Pepper's offer for a hair cut, and walks to the sink. This is all a disaster. If only he knew what his father's reaction would be to all of this, he would tell him sooner. Maybe after finals he'll come clean, no matter what progress he has had in finding out what happened to his mother. With a sigh, he stands from the couch and grabs his phone again. He tells Ryan that he might have to stay, that he’ll call his father and Happy if that is the case. And the mere thought of being split down the middle like this makes him feel nauseous. He was so looking forward to spending this day with him. 

**Ryan Bruno**

**The studio is rented for the remainder of the night. **

**You’ve got time. **

**yeah I'll see. **

**thanks, Ryan.**

**You’re welcome, Mr. Stark.**

**if you don’t call me Peter, I’ll tell Happy**

**Lol, okay Peter**

  
  


**Big Cheese Stark**

**how’s it going? **

**Axe throwing**

**Pepper is scary**

**that’s why you love her**

**You know me so well. **

**On your way yet?**

**School kicking your butt?**

**ha ha very funny** ****

He exhales a breath and pockets his phone, looking around May’s apartment, torn. He’ll wait until her fever goes down, leave her with a bowl of soup, tons of water by her bed so that she doesn’t have to get up in the middle of night. Yeah. That’s when he’ll go. It could work. 

“I’ve got time,” he breathes out, his eyes landing on the bookcase. Tired. Hopeful. 

**6:01pm**

Peter is sitting on the couch while reading the Daily Bugle on his phone with an apple between his teeth when he hears May’s door opening. He sets his apple on the napkin that's on the coffee table in front of him and stands, setting his phone down too. May appears at the entrance of the living room hugging her stomach, wearing her robe over her pajamas. Her hair is up haphazardly in a bun and her eyes are sunken and looking every bit exhasuted, but she is standing. Peter can't help but think about the times she has had to go through something like this on her own and how she stands up every time, regardless of anything that would prohibit her to do so.

“What are you doing out of bed? What do you need?”

“I need to heat up my soup,” she says with a bit more strength than he has heard her in the past couple of days, dragging her feet to the kitchen. 

“I can do that for you, go sit down. Is there anything else you need?”

Peter walks her to the couch and helps her sit, but then she tries to stand as she tells him she needs her box of tissues. 

“I—May, I got it. Stop—you’re worse than my dad. Sit still. Two seconds, sheesh,” he tells her as she leans back against the couch and he sprints to her room, grabbing the tissues. “Here you go. Anything else?” he asks as he sets them on the coffee table. 

She turns her eyes towards him, the color back on her face, which eases Peter’s worry. 

“In the drawer closest to the refrigerator, first one, there are a bunch of menus. Order something for yourself and I’ll heat up my soup.”

“I..”

“Unless you’re leaving, which you are free to do so, okay? I’m _ fine. _”

Peter looks back to the refrigerator and then back at May who is trying to sit up already to make her way to the kitchen. She can give his dad a run for his money. 

“I’ll order pizza and you tell me how to heat up your food, deal?”

With a small smile on her lips, she nods. 

**7:48pm**

“I promise nothing.”

“The books are way better, of course, but the movies can be enough for those who haven’t read them. Ned is very excited. He's always looking for Harry Potter virgins.”

Peter picks up his third slice of pizza as he sits on the couch with May, who sounds and looks much better as time passes. The irony. She's not quite like the May he’s used to seeing but coherent and being her quirky self is something Peter deems as a good sign to her recovery. He sits with his legs crossed, back against the armrest so that he's facing her on the couch as May continues eating her soup. 

“How are you feeling?” he asks her when the silence lands between them. “Want me to help you to bed?”

She shakes her head and sets her empty bowl of soup on the table. “I’m alright. Allergies are tamed but I am never having seafood again.”

Peter nods, thinking about Pepper and how the baby is forcing her to make the same promise.

Biting his slice, she sits back against the couch with a sigh. When she looks his way, she asks him if he's okay, if he needs anything. He nods with a thumbs up, cheeks full of food and a grin.

She reaches for his hair and tussles the curls, mentioning the need for a haircut, but enjoying the look either way. Once he's done with his bite, he smiles and thanks her, immediately going off about his dad telling him that “'you might look good, Stark, but that's a lot of maintenance, sloth boy. You ready for that?' And you see, I think I am, May. I think I am.”

She snorts, shutting her eyes.

“Besides, I don't have time for a haircut.”

A soft chuckle escapes her. “It'll take three seconds, Peter.”

“Too much hair for it to be three seconds. It'll take forever. I have things to do.”

“I can understand that. Too much hair,” she says.

Peter points at her with his forefinger. Vindicated, he says, “_exactly_.”

They fall into more conversation about school, about things she sees at work, his friends and his birthday coming up. Whatever plans there will be on that day, Peter hopes she can be there with him.

“Thank you for taking care of me, Peter.” She speaks it in the lull of the conversation, Peter able to hear the gratitude in her voice.

“Of course. Always.”

“And for the soup.”

“Pepper’s soup is a must when you’re sick. I’ve been having it since I could remember. Her mom's recipe.”

May’s sad smile pinches Peter’s chest but he doesn’t look away. 

“Well, it’s very good.”

**9:46pm**

Peter leaves May in bed, comfortable and sheets changed. While she showered, he tidied up the kitchen, put his contacts back in and holds the wig in his hand when he knocks on her door. 

“Come in,” she says and Peter walks in the room as May is settling on her bed. He walks over, tucking her just like Pepper and his dad did when he in the same boat as her. May smiles at him as he does it. 

“Are you comfortable?”

“I am, yes. Thanks. You’re a great nurse.”

Peter shakes his head as he scrunches his face in that way that he does when his dad is giving him compliments Peter can’t quite handle, suppressing a smile. Matching expression for expression, she nods in complete disagreement with him. 

“I’m not,” he starts as he makes sure she has the lamp on for her book, water bottles at a comfortable distance as well as her cellphone plugged into to charge, “I’m just doing what my dad does when I get sick.” Peter walks around the room and closes the windows, the night getting colder but the fresh air he wanted for her earlier getting the job done. “And Pepper,” he continues, “drinks this tea religiously. When dad is battling a cold himself, she makes it for him. I left the ingredients written on a note on the fridge. Really organic brewing. It'll smell weird at first but when it simmers, you'll love it.”

May’s smile is soft but the sadness her eyes harbor don't go unnoticed when she looks up at him. 

“Thanks for letting me come see you,” he quietly says, staring at her because she looks like the pictures he has seen on the web of his mother. 

She shakes her head at him, her eyes intent with a look his parents give him, the one where they don't have to speak to know that he's loved. The glint in their gaze speaks for itself. May has it too now. It grows with each visit. 

“Thank _ you _ for always coming and taking care of me.”

Peter sighs and grins at her, haphazardly putting the wig atop his head. She snickers when he does it, Peter putting the back of his hand over her forehead. 

“No fever,” she says.

“Drink your meds, young lady.”

“You got it, boss.”

He smiles at her response and drops a kiss to her forehead goodbye, and has to stop at the door when he hears her speak. 

“Peter, thank your dad for me.” His hand stops at the doorknob and his heart picks up speed as it sinks. When he turns around, she continues. “I know the deal was for us to meet like this until he can figure out a way to keep you safe from Oscorp but you can still give him the message.” Her hesitant lopsided grin makes Peter nauseous. He might actually throw up this time. “Right?”

When he hears May bring up the cover story Peter told her, he hears it, how flimsy it really sounds. _But it's so flimsy yet filled with truth __that it might work_, quote by Ned Leeds, brother and best friend.

With a nod and a smile, he prepares himself to step out of the apartment and out of the building. He checks his phone and sees that his dad hasn't read his last text. Pepper sent him pictures and clips of them playing the games and doing the team building session, which he knew would've been his and his dad's favorite. Anything to have a platform for banter between them. And it’s her message that eases his guilt yet wounds him further. 

**Mothership Potts**

**Attachment: 7 images, 2 videos **

**He had a great time. Don't worry. **

**There was a point he couldn't breathe from laughing so hard. **

**We did miss you though.**

**We’re leaving now. **

**Want us to stop anywhere for food?**

**it looks like you had a blast**

**no, had pizza. thanks though**

**Of course.**

**School went okay? **

Peter pockets his phone without a response to Pepper and exits May’s apartment with his earbuds in his ears and dialing for Ned, which turns into a three way with MJ.

“How is she?” MJ asks. 

Peter walks with his hands in his pockets, unable to identify how he's feeling at the moment. He shakes his head at the thought of him not being present for his father’s birthday, at the thought of May crying and delirious from her fevers, of his father and how this day always leaves a bad taste in his mouth. Peter wanted to change that, unable to understand why or how that it. Every August 10th has been nothing short of fun and love from his family. Peter wanted to give that to him because if there is one person that needs to be celebrated it's his dad. 

And he really wanted to be there to witness that transition. 

“Better. Ned, what's your cover?”

“I’m taking out the trash,” he says.

“Wait, a cover for what?” MJ interjects. 

“I just left May’s apartment,” Peter admits, looking both ways as he crosses the street. 

“So you ended up not going," she resolves all on her own, unimpressed. 

Once he steps onto the sidewalk, he shrugs as if she was there, opening his mouth to speak and opts against it, looking behind his shoulder and shaking his head. 

“MJ, May is sick and Peter was taking care of her. Cut him some slack. His dad’ll understand,” Ned defends. 

“Cut—_what? _ Mr. Stark has no idea about any of this, Ned. It’s time, Peter.”

He's not really listening to any of this, his mind weighing on him for bailing on his dad, even if he has good reasons for it. They go back and forth on a decision Peter has already made, heading to Ned’s in silence.

“When are you telling him?” she asks.

MJ, never one to beat around the bushes Peter seems to be cultivating while Ned reluctantly waters them. 

With an exhale of a breath, he answers. “I was thinking after finals but...”

“What?” they chorus, curious and patient. He would give his life for them without question.

“When all of this becomes a bit more clear, I will. He’s..things are complicated right now.” They don’t know about the pregnancy, and his dad is trying to get back to a place where things aren’t so heavy on his shoulders. Though his constant need to protect what the team left to fend for creeps in with authority, his dad is doing..okay. Much better than he's ever had, considering the circumstances. “It's like they're calming down while..simultaneously..holding on by a thread. It’s weird.”

There’s a silence on the line and Peter sighs because they might not understand what he he's saying but it doesn't matter. The time isn’t right yet. 

It’s Ned that speaks first. “Is he still making sure May's okay? Checking on her and stuff?”

Peter shakes his head, two blocks from Ned’s place. 

“He..backed off after Baxter died. I know he has uncle Rhodey working on something, he just won’t tell me what, exactly. He promised he would though, if anything came up.” 

“But..” Ned is the one that carries on with the conversation, MJ’s silence not settling with Peter. “She welcomed you and she knows who you are. Why can’t your dad know now? This is what he was afraid of, no? The other guy is..no longer with us. Danger is gone.”

One block. He tells Ned and then says, “Oscorp. Besides, I wanna know why May doesn’t want to talk about my birth mom. The _ minute _ dad finds out, he’ll tell me to stay out of it and May doesn’t know that _ he _ doesn’t know about us going over there and getting acquainted.”

MJ hums. “Trust would be broken and then she might never say anything,” she says, an observatory tone in her voice. 

“Right. Anyway,” Peter continues, hiding and moving so that Ryan doesn’t see him going around the back of the building, cheating by lowering his cap and stealthy climbing a story, “it’s..something is missing and the less attention, the better. Ned, I’m here.”

Right then, the door to the back entrance of the complex opens and Ned carries the trash in one hand and another bag with his clothes in the other. 

“You can feel that with your Spideysense?” Ned excitedly asks as he hands Peter the small bag with his change of clothes as he steps aside so that Peter can get inside and change in the laundry room. MJ tells Ned to lower his voice, warning him about people hearing them. She has a point, because that’s exactly how she found out: paying a little too much attention. 

“Nope,” he sighs out. Tired, he steps inside the building and leads the way to the laundry. “It’s a Stark intuition.”

**10:19pm**

When Peter gets inside the car, changed wardrobe and his bag in his hands, he sits against his seat with that disheartening feeling in his chest. May needed him. She has no one to take care of her. It just sucks that it all had to happen on the day of his dad’s birthday. The thought of him not being around for it makes his eyes burn for the fourth time today. He can't stop thinking about it.

“Peter, are you alright?”

Looking out the window as Ryan drives him home, Peter hums his response and takes his phone out shortly after. 

**Big Cheese Stark **

**I am so sorry.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sirens by Tom Odell, guys. Sirens by Tom Odell. 
> 
> I hated this chapter. It never came out the way I wanted but I had to post it and honestly? sigh lol 
> 
> anywayyyy thanks for reading my friends!
> 
> Go be happy<3


	19. Act III: Track VIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heavy shoulders.

**Act III**

**Track VIII**

When the elevator doors open up to the penthouse, Peter is the first thing Tony notices. He holds the door so that Rhodey and Pepper can step out, his eyes on the kid, watching him stand from the couch and make his way over to them, hesitant but steady.

The sight of Peter in his Iron Man pajama bottoms and damp hair, surely from the shower, and the bags under his unsure eyes stings him. And it’s stupid; he knows the kid didn’t mean to miss out. He knows it wasn’t part of the plan to plan and plan and plan, have it all laid out to miss out on the big finish. But right in that moment, the way his disappointment rises can’t seem to be overridden. To buy himself time to figure out what to do with all that bubbles within, he lets Pepper and Rhodey greet Peter first and he settles for lowering his eyes with his keys in his hands.

“Tony,” Rhodey calls when he turns to him once he says his goodbye to the kid, a small grin across his face as he approaches and gives him what seems to be the last hug from him on his birthday. 

“You’re old,” he says as he walks to the elevator. 

“You’re older, but you knew that.”

“Ha ha,” Rhodey humorlessly retorts as the doors close. 

Swinging the keychain ring on his forefinger, where the Spider-Man logo hangs from, Tony turns around and sees Pepper hugging Peter with promises to show him all the footage they got during their dinner tomorrow night.

“Oh, no. You heard correctly. I kicked everyone’s butt.”

“Tell me you got_ that _ on video”

Pepper turns to Tony who nods in confirmation. 

“Cool,” the kid says.

“Riveting, to say the least.”

Tony watches Peter smile up at her when she faces him again and takes a small bow.

“Okay, boys, I’m headed to the shower and then bed.” With her announcement, she looks back at Tony, this time saying a lot more with the gesture than anything else.

“See you tomorrow?” Peter asks when she turns back around after Tony gives her a subtle nod. 

He stops his finger from spinning his keys around, bringing them to the front pocket of his pants along with his hands and exhales. Pepper proceeds to confirm her attendance at dinner tomorrow and drops a kiss to Peter’s forehead, making a big show of moving all the loose curls from his face. The kid chuckles, pawing harmlessly at her in half-hearted resistance. A comment about his hair getting too long and Peter's consideration of a haircut makes Tony shake his head. Peter then whispers goodnight to her stomach once he gets low enough to do so. 

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Tony tells her when she gives him one last look and begins to head to their quarters. 

He turns his eyes to Peter, watching how he kneads his right fingers into his left palm with his eyes on Tony, still unsure. The tension returns to his shoulders and the laughter and easiness leaves with Pepper. 

With a small head nod in the kid’s direction, he asks, “are you okay?”

Peter nods, saying nothing. 

“You got your work done? All in order?”

Peter hesitates before he nods his head again; his eyes instantly well up at the question. 

Tony pauses, looking at him to see if anything is out of place but like Peter confirmed, there is nothing to report, so he clears his throat with his head down, looking at his shoes. 

“You ate dinner?”

“Y-yes.”

“Good,” he says and lifts his head back up. “Good.”

Peter takes a step towards him with unshed tears and seems ready to speak but chooses to say nothing instead and his shoulders slump, dejected, lowering his head too. 

Tony’s throat tightens, with that pain of a withheld need to cry as he's thinking about the week he had thanks to Peter, unable to understand how the kid’s absence this one time could’ve altered everything that happened a few days ago. It shouldn’t eradicate it and as much as it tries, Tony refuses to let it. Training his mind to cooperate with healthy thoughts is so exhausting, Clarissa wasn’t kidding; he no longer wants to entertain any of it. Life happens. It’s finals week. The kid has responsibilities. He’s been incredible the entire duration of this birthday extravaganza and Tony doesn’t want to end the night like this when his days were filled with celebration, laughter and so much love surrounding him. It was such a breakthrough that he was able to move past his dysfunctions and jump headfirst to enjoy every minute of what took place. All because of Peter and his unbelievable capacity to make others feel loved and heard and seen.

“So, there are still,” Tony starts, looking at his watch, “thirty-five minutes left of my birthday and I haven’t seen you _ all day_. Can I get a hug?”

When the kid lifts his head at the sound of Tony’s request, his face falls and the tears follow, thick and almost gushing down his cheeks. Wasting no time, Peter rushes to him in an embrace, his arms locking around Tony’s middle, completely overcome in the gesture. He understands the sentiment and holds him just the same, placing his chin atop the kid’s head, shutting his eyes at the sound of his soft sobs and apologies. 

“Don’t cry, kid. Your birthday’s coming up. We can make it a double-feature if it means that much to you.”

Peter lets go and looks up at him, trying to hold back his tears as he speaks. 

“I know I messed up. I’m sorry. This was your big day and I wanted to be there, dad. Please, believe me. Things just got so...and ugh. I’m _ sorry. _ I am.._so sorry _I missed it.” He hugs Tony again as he finishes, not bothering holding back his cries this time. 

“Peter—”

“I am grounded for one—no, _ two _ months. The entire summer—” he cuts off, his hold tight around Tony as the side of his face is pressed against his chest. 

Spider-Man turns into Spider-Mess in the blink of an eye. Tony leans back so that he can look at him and the kid’s eyes are shut tight while he rambles in frantic attempts to get a proper compensation for his absence tonight.

“Peter,” he calls, bringing him close to him a bit tighter, “hey, you’re drifting. Grab a board and catch a wave, kid.”

“I’m serious, dad,” he sobs against him, “no chocolate for a _ year. _ Until your next birthday.”

“Actually, _ can _ you cut back on the chocolate? Because if you don’t slow down with it, I’m sending you to Chocolate Eaters Anonymous.”

“The CEA?” His cries are softer when he speaks. 

“Precisely.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” he concludes, a grin on Tony’s face when he hears Peter respond. He presses his lips to the top of Peter’s head, his coconut conditioner all he smells when he does it, and then pulls away.

Holding him by the shoulders, he leans down to be at eye level with him, the kid’s face blotchy, his eyes enormous while filling with more tears as if it was vital for him to do so. 

“Kid, we’re okay. It’s all right.”

“Dad, I am so sorry.” He says this in a really honest, slightly heartbreaking way. 

“Apology accepted, all good,” Tony says while giving his shoulders a small shake, because it is, “we celebrated the _ entire _ week. It’s—trust me, this—” 

“Was _ unforgivable!_” Peter cries, stepping back and throwing his arms up in his outburst, “your birthday was _ today_.” He’s full on crying again and planning on not stopping by the looks of it. “_Today_. I didn’t even see you this morning!” And that fact seems to throw him over the edge. 

Helpless, he rushes to hug Tony again, throwing himself on him and making him stumble a little. Touch snaps Tony back to those nights where Peter would run to his bedroom, climb on the bed and wake him because of the thunderstorms at the time. He was terrified and would cling to Tony’s chest in the middle of the night under the blankets. Between science and Thor, Peter’s fears were conquered. Now whenever there is a rainy night, he sometimes makes time to spend the evening by Tony's side. 

Hugging him back, with all the affection for him tenfold, he tells Peter about the day he had, the week he experienced thanks to him. Thanks to all of them. Stepping back, he holds either side of his face, wiping his tears with his thumbs, telling him to “give yourself a break, you understand? I’m giving it to you, so you have to do it too.” 

“It’s just..I know how weird this day can be for you and I basically forced you to go along with this—”

It’s Tony’s turn to interrupt, shaking his head at his words because even if Peter is right about this day and how it brings out the way he wants to cry and feel nothing while feeling everything, it doesn’t mean this year Tony lost the battle against it trying to drown him. Might be a premature victory call but the cycle has been severely damaged with very slim chances of recovery to full effect. 

“_Thank you_, kid. I mean that. You made this..” And now it’s Tony’s eyes that well up at the thought, at the epiphany that “this was a really good year.” He lets go of Peter’s face then, placing a hand on the kid’s shoulder with a gentle squeeze. 

With a sniffs and bloodshot eyes, he is a lot calmer as he listens to Tony speak, eyes on him. And there, Tony sees that Peter believes him as he then proceeds to wipe his nose with the sleeves of his sweater. Endearing and gross all the same. 

“Happy birthday, dad,” is all he softly says in return.

“Thanks, Pete.” It’s small but there is a smile on the kid’s face at the sound of his voice, Tony taking in how tired he looks. With an exhale of a breath, he pulls him in for another hug and Peter returns the gesture, tight and unwilling to relent it for the moment being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in the words of Bethany, "Tony knows what's important."
> 
> I love dem. 
> 
> Talk to me in the comments, guys! I hope you're all well and safe.
> 
> Go be happy.


	20. Part III: Locate All Emergency Exits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Track IX**

Tony and Pepper return from the lakehouse an hour before Thursday night dinner. The lakehouse, which should be ready to move in by next week if they wanted to, has fully captured Pepper’s heart along with Tony’s. They will spend all of this week being as hands on as possible in their finishing touches, and soon they will be able to start packing up their things to make the switch. Hopefully, if it all goes well, Peter won't mind the dates being moved up. Tony hopes they can do it soon and while Peter still has a few weeks left in school so that they can see how commuting to school would go. Yes. It will all work out. He'll have Happy oversee the move and Pepper is already handling transfers and accomdations to the compound because once it is all settled, tower is going on sale. 

It is all really happening. Who would've thought.

“I’m going to see mom tomorrow morning. Anna says her mornings have been better than her evenings, so.” 

“Yeah?”

Pepper sighs, looking at Tony with a shrug. “That’s what she says.”

Lily doesn’t know about the baby yet. The times Pepper has gone to visit, Lily hasn’t placed her but welcomes her nonetheless. They sit and get reacquainted in the time Pepper is there. Sometimes, it’s more than an hour and Lily gets to know Pepper, loves her instantly as she re-meets her without any knowledge that she’s the one whose wedding dress she decided to gift to so there could be alterations. Lily has no idea the favorite daughter she seldomly remembers and talks to her about, the one the dress is for, sits before her. 

“Uncle Morgan’s coming with me.”

Tony meets her at the dresser while she turns around to put on her stud earrings, almost ready for dinner. 

“That man is a _ treasure_. You be nice to him.”

She chuckles, her eyes on him through the mirror. 

  
  


**Track X**

  
  


It takes studying with the spiderboy the entire weekend for his first final tomorrow afternoon, along with a trip to Times Square so that he can get a few shots for his photography project also due tomorrow, for him to finally stop feeling guilty about Tony’s birthday. It was an interesting few days, to say the least.

This fine Monday morning during breakfast, Peter brings an idea to the table Tony is very well behind, something about playing the piano 15 minutes everyday for his “tiny human little Stark! I read that classical music is the most stimulating for them while they’re in there.”

“Ah,” Tony says, sipping his coffee and taking it with him as Pepper follows Peter into the living room once they're done eating. She looks back at him over her shoulder with a questioning grin on her lips, which Tony responds with a small shrug to. 

Peter says something under his breath that Tony misses as he takes his seat on the stool. 

“What?” he asks for clarification as he grabs the spot at the corner of the couch closest to them, as Pepper stands by the piano, laning over it as Peter throws his bag on the ground and asks FRIDAY to time him so that he doesn’t run late. 

“Don’t worry,” Peter mutters, after adjusting the stool. Cocking his head side to side with his eyes on the keys beneath his fingers, he says, “I understand me.”

“Thank goodness for that,” Tony says as he crosses his legs, holding his coffee mug on top of his knee, genuinely excited because Peter’s transformation behind the piano is one of Tony’s favorite things to witness. 

“I’m thinking we do this every morning before we part ways, what do you think?”

“For nine months?” Pepper asks, Peter carelessly playing random notes with his eyes to Pepper as his phone begins displaying music sheets. 

“Yes. This week, until next Tuesday, we’ll do it in the morning so that finals don’t swallow me whole. Huh? What cha think?”

Pepper puts her elbow against the lid of the piano and rests her chin on her knuckles. Tony watches them as he brings his coffee to his lips. 

“What about after finals?”

“I..” Peter begins to answer with his eyes on his hands, distracted by a tune Tony doesn’t recognize, melancholic all the same when he hears it, “can do it before school then too.” 

“What about when you don’t have to get up at 6 o’clock in the morning, Spider-Man?”

Tony notices the big grin on Peter’s lips when Pepper refers to him as Spider-Man while he continues to play. With a shrug, he tells Pepper that he’ll wake up 20 minutes before she has to go and she chuckles at his answer, shaking her head and glancing at Tony. He notices her sudden glow and he struggles to catch his breath for a moment at the sight.

“FRIDAY, ready,” he calls then and Pepper locks her hands and rests her chin against them, focusing on Peter as he transitions from what he plays to a classical piece. 

Tony thinks it’s a good start to his days for the next nine months. 

  
  


That morning, before they head to the lakehouse, Pepper and Tony go to visit Lily, and though the moment is brief when it comes, Pepper is able to tell her about the baby. It doesn't last for even an entire sixty seconds but when it happens, it’s theirs for the amount of time they hold it. 

  
  


That night, they are studying for the big day tomorrow. Multivariate calculus. The kid's playlist plays overhead, the volume much more moderate than the way Tony likes to work with. The song _Lisztomania_ is on its second run, per Peter's request. 

“I take my lonely x and square it, and I take this also very lonely y and square it.”

“Point,” Tony calls from where he sits as he tosses a cheeto midair to Peter, observing how it lands clean in his mouth with ease. “Anything else before we go to bed?”

“Let’s go over Fundamental Theorem of Line Integrals.”

Tony gives him a nod and sits up on his chair, setting the bag of crunchy cheetos on his station and leaning forward with his elbows to his knees and palms together, pressed against his mouth. His eyes remain on Peter. The kid narrows his in response, standing across from him with the screen FRIDAY opened as a whiteboard. Peter finishes his bite while his hand hovers over the pen that’s in the front pocket of his jeans; his Wild, Wild West attempt would work if Tony’s deep knowledge of his goofball of a son wasn’t so penetrating. 

“I’m ready cowboy,” Peter says with a southern accent that’s actually not half bad. 

Tony slowly sits back against his chair and takes the bag of cheetos, petting it like a cat in the sudden silence of the lab. His eyes don't leave his son's ridiculous posture. DUM-E moves next to the kid and he hears him comfort the bot with a soft, “it’ll be alright, boy.” 

“Fundamental Theorem of Line Integrals,” Tony says. 

“You heard me, old man,” he responds, voice low, ready for the mathematical fight. 

He tries to play on Peter’s antics and gives him a slow, evil smile and then shouts the equation, in which Peter without hesitation grabs the pen and writes what Tony cites on the board. Once he’s finished, he takes a step back and looks at it for one second, and then proceeds to solve it. He narrates his steps and Tony catches his mistake, but refrains from speaking. When Peter double checks his work, taking another step back, he lets out a scream and returns to the board. He screams throughout the entire duration of his correction while Tony has his hands over his ears the entire time. 

When he is finally done, he turns around to face Tony, expectant. Bringing his hands down, he gives a nod of approval to the new answer. Peter screams again and falls on his knees, feigned cries to the heavens. Tony stands up from his seat with the bag of cheetos in hand, the grin on his face permanent as he approaches the most dramatic teen in the history of ever and dumps the contents of the bag on him. 

“Yessssss!” the menace cries out and catches a few of the strips in his mouth, “YEEEESSSS!”

Chuckling, he drops his face in his palms as Peter then lays flat on his back and continues with his tired and slightly disturbing, “I did it, I bested the great Tony Stark!” while making cheeto snow angels on the ground. 

  
  


**Track XI**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark**

**letters of recommendation are done. **

**Ned’s and mine**

**Good job. **

**You have to drop it off**

**Entry project and letters are a package deal**

  
  


**covered, my friend.**

**I’m not kidding **

**Your name will get you nowhere**

**Finished with calc?**

**yesyes i know i know**

**just finished. think i did okay**

**i mean i had to do well**

**you know, with ** **your nagging voice **

**not leaving me alone**

**I do live to torment you.**

**See how it works?**

**'it's not a race peter'**

**'take your time peter'**

**'you know this peter!! STOP RUSHING PETER!'**

**That's it.**

**You are most welcome.**

**I know you did well**

**thanks, I GUESS**

**Pepper said that too! **

**you guys are so nice to me :’)**

**WAY too nice, I keep telling her**

**lmaooo :P**

**You’re still coming home?**

**yup! omw out rn**

**gonna review for tomorrow, eat & then Queens :)**

**Gotta love end of year half days, huh**

**unmatched **

**you guys at the lakehouse already?**

**I have some free time after finals**

**I can go see it then? **

**Up to you, kid**

**Leaving grandma’s to go there in a few**

**Should be home by dinner**

**Pepper’s joining Spanish review Thursday**

**1\. how’s gma? **

**2\. Pepper: too good, too pure for this world**

**1\. Lily’s stable **

**2\. Uncle Morgan’s moving to Florida with his son. Says hi**

**3\. No cheetos past 9. -Ms. Potts**

** good. love u gma Lils**

** UNCLE MORGAN!!!!!! HEY!!!! **

**what color suit he’s got on?!**

** it’s a sad, sad day in America**

  
  


FRIDAY alerts Tony of Peter’s arrival with a minute to spare on his curfew. Finals week calls for earlier nights in and the kid didn’t put much of a fight when Pepper and Tony talked to him about it. Mostly because as soon as he’s done, the freedom of the summer days will take place as soon as he puts his pencil down on that last test. Tony knows he is looking forward to that. So with the knowledge of Peter's arrival, he'll opt to finishing this audio chapter of the fourth Harry Potter book, run one more sequence on Rhodey's new braces and do one more set of pull ups before he calls it a night. 

After a quick shower, he makes his way to Peter's room, and the music gets louder as he approaches. When he opens the door, he finds Pepper and Peter jumping around, something he hasn’t seen since Peter was seven and he thought he was Peter Pevensie, King of Narnia. Pepper held a ball in his honor, dressed to the nines and everything. They danced and made Tony smile for an entire week straight. This time though, instead of joining them and laughing nonstop, he watches. Pepper notices him standing at the frame of the door shortly after his arrival and smiles at him before she turns around and continues shouting lyrics with Peter. 

She ends the big number by sitting at the foot of the bed and flopping on her back on the mattress, as the kid just drops to the floor by his desk, no longer in Tony’s line of vision.

“Dance party?”

“Kinda,” Peter says from where he lies. He begins to sit up and then climbs on the bed and settles next to Pepper. 

Tony, still leaning against the frame of the door, has his arms crossed against his chest. He looks at Pepper, her eyes closed and her feet dangling from the foot of the bed. 

“Kinda?” Tony echos in question and steps inside the room, to the desk and sits on the swivel chair. He leans against it enough so that he is somewhat comfortable with his eyes to the ceiling as he waits for an explanation.

“We were ‘dancing it out.’”

“Dancing it out,” Tony repeats, swinging slightly back and forth on the seat. 

“Peter’s friend gave him some tips on how to relieve stress for finals. One of them is to literally dance it out.”

“We just dance our troubles away. She’s a big Grey’s Anatomy fan, that’s where she got it from.”

“Ah,” Tony quietly answers, swinging. “So, you decided to join forces?”

“Pepper told me about grandma’s episode this morning and I told her about the dance-it-out so we tried it together.”

“What song was that?”

“It’s good, right?”

Tony nods at Pepper’s question. It's not his typical choice of music but he could hear the message behind it. His eyes close for a moment before he stands from the chair and walks over to the bed and leans down to kisses Pepper’s forehead, then stands between her feet and takes her hand to pull her up.

Peter answers, telling him it's one of his friend's favorites as he sits up too. Pepper wraps her arms around Tony, the side of her head leaning against his stomach with her eyes to Peter. The kid gifts her a warm smile and with a sigh, drops a brief kiss to her forehead too, gets off the bed and grabs his camera from his desk. 

“Can I?”

Tony feels Pepper’s headnod against him to Peter’s question as his hands give a gentle squeeze to her shoulders before he pulls her closer. 

Peter snaps the picture. 

  
  


**Track XII**

**Wednesday: English LA Regents Examination **

**  
Itsy Bitsy Stark, Fiancee Potts**

**  
Itsy Bitsy Stark: not going home**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: was asked to photograph the graduates this year**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: after the meeting, i’m heading to Queens.**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: see you tonight :)**

**Fiancee Potts: High praise, kiddo! Be safe**

**Fiancee Potts: Make sure you eat something**

**  
Track XIII**

**Thursday: History and Politics **

**Itsy Bitsy Stark, Fiancee Potts** ****

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: check your email **

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: classes for next year have been sent out**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: on my way home**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: dad come with me patrolling this summer**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: Pepper, tell him to come**

**We’ll see. **

**We got the email. **

**Jazz?**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: it’s a new elective. the funding went through**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: me playing every morning has woken stuff **

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: I wanna see what happens**

**Fiancee Potts: I like the sound of that. **

**Fiancee Potts: It looks like next year will require a lot more focus**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: I guess yeah. Pepper, any thoughts on dinner?**

**Fiancee: We can do next week if it's easier. We can study so you can go Spidermanning your way around Queens. **

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: that’s okay. we can study & then do dinner. i’ll head to Queens after. **

  
  


Studying for Spanish turns out to be a lot more fun with Pepper, whose pregnancy has gotten the best of her. From the intake of water and her constant exhaustion, they end the night with her head resting on Tony’s lap as they sit on the living room couch while Peter is upside down on a web, hanging from the very high ceiling. She quizzes Peter and Tony helps him if needed. Towards the end of it, she falls asleep when Peter and Tony get carried away off topic. Shortly after that, the kid makes his quiet exit to Queens with the remaining time he has left. Tony realizes he had fallen asleep on the couch when he wakes to Peter placing a blanket on Pepper, and trying to cover Tony with one as best as he can, since Pepper's head still rests on his lap.

**Track XIV**

**Friday: AP Spanish and Digital Photography **

**Itsy Bitsy Stark, Fiancee Potts**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: I’M DONEEEE **

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: DIGITAL ENGINEERING MONDAY & THAT’S IT**

**Way to go, Pete. Very proud of you.**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AH AHHHHHHH**

**Fiancee Stark: AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH *high fives you***

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: *high fives you super excited and then holds your hands and we jump up and down***

***trips you after you let go of Pepper* calm down**

**Itsy Bitsy Stark: **

**Fiancee Potts: You’re both ridiculous, lol**

  
  


**Track XV**

**Saturday. **

“Dad? DAD!”

Tony is on the couch with Pepper, reading on Rhodey’s finding on Oscorp when he hears Peter's voice. As soon as that happens, Pepper closes the window, the kid rushing towards them. After clumsy forehead kisses hello to both of them, he takes a deep breath when he stands straight. 

“Dad, Pepper.” He looks between them as he stands in front of them before he speaks, talking with his hands. “Ned is getting...the biggest Harry Potter lego set _ yet. _ I _ need _ to sleep over that week. _Please_, guys.”

Tony looks at Pepper and then back at him. “Sure, we’ll talk about it when the time comes.”

Peter grunts out a triumphant “yes” with a fist bump. Then asks, “you guys wanna go to the park before I go? We can skate?”

Pepper and Tony look at each other again. Her whole face breaks into a smile and with a small shrug Tony turns to Peter. 

“Let’s go, Spiderling.”

“Cool!” 

They head to Central Park with Ryan, Mark and Happy, Peter and Pepper both wearing their watches, Tony wearing his glasses, scanning, cell phone in pocket and arc reactor under his shirt. It’s the first time he wears it after its final update. 

  
  


**Act IV**

**Track XVI**

  
  


Peter passes with flying colors and is officially a junior in high school with an intense schedule for next year. With tomorrow being the last day of school and working with the graduation committee for the shots he has to take during the ceremony, Tony hasn’t been able to spend a lot of time with him these past few days. He’s been working on his entry project for the Stark Internship, patrol, and spending his free time with his friends when he has some. And when he has permission to do so. All in all, it works out since Pepper and Tony have been spending a lot of time in the lakehouse, finishing touches and surprises for when Peter goes to see it sometime next week. Still, he misses laughing and boasting with him when the kid is around. Guarantee sightings are in the morning before he plays for Pepper and when Tony makes the nightly visit to see if he’s on his bed, asleep and resting.

With the few changes in schedule, he took Peter's offer to go on patrol with him last night. It was a slow one according to Peter, slower than usual. So, once they were home, they spent the rest of the evening in the gym, training and goofing off, learning how to work together with each other's moves, laughing and discussing the Harry Potter series now that Tony has finished. 

Tonight, Peter comes with news that the weapons that destroyed Mr. Delmar’s deli made another appearance a few blocks from Ned’s apartment building; Tony made a couple of calls after he did some research on what’s been going on with those. It will all be handled soon, he hopes.

“The bots’ll get the job done. When they’re on the move, we’ll know.” 

Tony sets his glass of water down in the sink and looks at the kid, headphones in as he walks over to the fridge and grabs a juice pouch. Before he can rip the straw out off it, Tony moves in and grabs it from his hand, Peter’s mouth falling open as he looks up at Tony in indignation. 

“I’ll call you back, dude,” he says and brings his headphones out of his ears. “Not cool.”

“You’re not drinking this before bed. And you'll know what when the bots do what, exactly, Peter James Stark?”

Peter drops his head back in a groan and responds likeso, eyes to the ceiling. 

“Internship stuff. Can I have my juice now?”

“Have a glass of water.”

“Dad—”

“It’s almost one in the morning. What are you still doing walking around?” Tony moves to the fridge and puts the juice away. With a louder groan and a roll of his eyes, Peter drops his head back again and starts to head out of the kitchen.

“Tomorrow's the last day of school. It’s no big deal. I’ll be fine.”

“Goodnight, spiderboy,” he sings out as if Peter hasn't spoken.

Peter turns around as he continues to walk backward and gives Tony finger guns with a deadpan “_arrivederci_.”

  
  


**Track XVII**

  
  


The next day, Rhodey is back from his expedition, in which he set out to go above and beyond for Peter regarding the Oscorp game of Clue, with leads on who can give him concrete information about specific things Tony would like to know. The information he sent out to Pepper and him last time had nothing new, so he hopes what he has this time is a bit more conclusive. And he knows that is the case because when Rhodey answers the phone, Tony knows whatever he's got is important. 

“Just tell me, Rhodey.”

“I might have something. I’ll know for sure in a few days.”

“Like what? What do you have?”

“I can be there in an hour.”

Tony sits up on his chair, dropping his forehead on his palm as he pushes aside the letters of recommendation on his desk. There are 10 applicants for the Stark Internship and not one of the applications has Peter’s or Ned's name on it. Not the letters or project submissions. The kid had one job: submit your entry and Tony can't believe he missed it. He won't tell him anything until he has picked his interns. That'll teach him. 

At the sound of the knock on the door, he looks up and Pepper steps inside.

“Rhodey?” she mouths and takes a seat across from him. Tony nods and Pepper suggests telling him the news, “but not through the phone,” she whispers. 

“Honeybear, Vision’s there yet?”

“I don't think so, why?”

“Dinner? All of us? 7 o’clock?”

“Sure. But, Tony, listen, this is something—”

“Don’t worry about that right now. We’ll talk when I get there.”

Rhodey quiets on the other line. 

“See you then. No seafood, tell Norma.”

Rhodey sighs. “No seafood. See you soon.”

They end the call. 

“Peter’s not going to make it. Graduation, remember?”

Tony runs his hands down his face and hums in agreement. Pepper asks if he’s alright and he promises to tell her when they’re in the penthouse. 

  
  


En route to the compound, Pepper is on the phone while Happy is behind the wheel. A notification on the watch comes in from Vision’s transponder, indicating he just landed on the grounds and when Tony sees it, he pushes his wrist for Pepper to see. She grins up at him and goes back to her phone call. Tony sighs, excited and nervous all the same to tell everyone that they’re going to be parents again. 

It helps his anxiety about the news Rhodey has for him. 

They’re ten minutes out as he is scrolling through the pictures of the lakehouse, and decides to send them to Peter. The graduation ceremony should be over by now. He’ll have some time to look at it before he hits the streets as Spider-Man. 

**Itsy Bitsy Spider**

**Link: Upstate Lakeside**

**It’s finished. **

**It looks great**

**Just have to move in the rest of our things from the tower**

**that was super fast omg**

**i can't wait to go see it!!**

**you know, i've been thinking....**

**that's a lot of space...**

**can we...get...alpacas?!!**

**wAIT**

**A DOG**

**DAD **

**DAD **

**DAD WE *NEED* A DOG**

**KID**

**KID**

**KID, WE DO NOT *NEED* A DOG **

**I’ll consider the alpaca. **

**ONE alpaca **

**What about a goldfish?**

**…...a GOLDFISH.**

**what do you think this is! A cat would be better than a GOLDFISH**

**You offend me. I’m offended. You’ve offended me. **

**jsyk, Pepper’ll like the dog much better than the alpacas* :))))))))**

**No. **

**How about this: no goldfish, no DOG, maybe a cat**

**Or**

**One alpaca.**

**why r u so caught up on the alpacas* all of a sudden sir?! **

**I researched :)))))))**

**kljfghlkghkl lmaoooo :))))))**

**this won’t work!**

**you’ll see**

**She’ll be on board with the alpaca**

**Tone it down with the negative vibes, will you?**

**I’m just going with the facts **

**I mean….do you…...**

**remember….the big bunny….**

**Do not..speak ill of the dead**

**…...remember…..**

**Do NOT..speak ILL of the DEAD**

**This is when you say sorry**

**….big….bunny….**

**Apology not accepted. **

**Come with us to see the place soon though**

**You haven't seen your room**

**I can teach you about RESPECT then**

  
  


He pockets his phone and Pepper ends her call when the renewed sight of the compound comes into view.

  
  


Rhodey hugs Tony as Vision gives his congratulations to Pepper, Happy coming back into the common room with glasses in his hands. They barely made it into the common room when Tony blurted out the news. It was too much. He had to say something. It's been months!

When Rhodey lets go of Tony, he holds his shoulders with a twinkle in his eye.

“What are you looking at?” Tony asks

“I’m looking at you,” Rhodey responds and with Tony’s chuckle, they hug again. 

“I’m so happy for you, man.”

“Thanks, honeybear,” Tony softly tells him mid embrace. When he pulls aways he asks, “you ready for another terror running around?” 

Rhodey laughs, Happy handing out glasses full champagne, Pepper’s with ginger ale, and Tony moves over to her, his hand around her waist and a kiss to her cheek. He’s almost giddy. 

“I don’t think that’s quite fair, Mr. Stark. Peter is a delightful young man.”

“I must say I agree with Vision on this one,” Pepper comments, looking at him, “if this cute thing in here is anything like Peter, then we’re good.”

“People, people,” Tony calls with a shake of his head, “you know he _ can’t _ hear you.” 

The chorused taunting and mockery gets interrupted by FRIDAY’s announcement of Peter call to the medics as he's arriving at the Tower with a gunshot wound, currently making his way to the medbay. 

The small panic and his mind rewiring blocks out the big _I told you so_ he had coming for the people in the room. 

Before Tony asks FRIDAY to display any footage, she’s already doing so. Peter is limping into the room while hitting the spider logo on his chest so that the suit loosens. The sight of him gives Tony’s lungs a break and he can feel himself breathe again, and things refocus around him too. His mouth is dried and he can’t formulate any words as he watches Dr. Julia and her team aid Peter onto a medbed. It’s Pepper who breaks the silence that takes over the room. Tony, at the sound of her voice, notices how his hand goes under his chest, right over his scar and his heart is beating _ fast_, to the point he has to force himself to inhale deep breaths because stabbings and black eyes, bruised ribs even, that he can do. Guns are so instant, so deadly. 

“Peter? Honey, what happened?”

At the sound of Pepper’s voice, Tony watches Peter’s eyes open up as he lies down on the bed, Julia’s nurses moving with a rehearsed grace, efficiently and in a pace Tony appreciates. He turns around to look at Rhodey, who is standing tall and ready. Composed. Tony’s insides are winding down to that level of calmness hopefully soon. The kid is all right. He’s breathing. He turns back around at the sound of Peter’s complaints.

“_Oh—ouch—hi, Pepper—ow, ow. I got it, Dr. Jules—I—_agh!”

“What the hell is going on?” Tony finally speaks, then back at Rhodey, “can you fly?”

“You’re _ not _ leaving me here,” Pepper immediately cuts in hard as she grabs Tony’s hand, making him aware of his movements until she stops him. “Happy, get a quinjet ready, please,” she calls, looking at Happy who is halfway out of the room by the time she finishes her sentence. 

Tony turns to her and nods, swallowing the lump in his throat, calming down and regrouping. Kid is alright. He’s just notorious for this kind of stuff. He has proved that time and time again. Peter is answering Julia’s questions as she works on his leg, making her smile because the kid is taking this lightly and Tony is suddenly grateful for that attitude. His shoulders relax a bit more. His heart though, his heart is fully aware that it is Peter who is being treated from a gunshot wound. Rhodey stands by him then and watches as Peter is being put down on the bed, Julia following instructions left by Cho on how to treat Peter’s pain. 

“_Like a bandaid, Peter_,” Julia calls out as she and a nurse begin to pull out the suit from his leg. Peter lets out a brief scream and props himself on his elbows to see his leg freed. “_Got it._” Julia then begins to tell Peter what she’s about to do when the kid asks if it looks bad, to get a picture of it so that he can show Ned later. 

Pepper is quiet beside Tony, her palms at either side of her face. 

He hears Julia looking for an exit wound once they have cleaned the webbing Peter so thoughtfully applied to the wound, but there is none. Tony tells her to mind his healing factor, and Julia nods, more for his comfort than for lack of knowledge. So as she begins to sanitize her hands while the nurse gives Peter his anesthesia, she tells Tony she’s going to shut the surveillance while she works. 

Tony hears Vision calling Pepper and when she doesn't respond, Tony turns to her, watching as she hangs on every word Julissa is speaking, her eyes worried and glued to the screen when Peter hisses in pain. But the misery doesn’t end there, because the leg is already healing and they have to get whatever shrapnel is in there before it closes. Peter holds himself together, telling Julia to please not make things seem worse than they are. 

“_My parents are watching_,” he struggles to whisper, his attempt at comic relief relieving no one.

“Peter—”

“_Dad, dad_,” his sharp breath keeps interrupting his speech as he lifts his head and looks down to his leg, “_it’s okay_.”

“Don’t look, kid,” Tony says, sympathizing because super strength and sticking to walls doesn’t make things hurt any less. 

“_Okay_,” he agrees through his wince and drops his head back, blinking and taking deep breaths. Tony is glad that it looks like they have the situation handled before the cameras go off. Good. Because the anxiety is riding high on Tony no matter how well the situation is looking to turn out. 

“_Wow, this is _fun!_ Are you guys having_ fun?”

Pepper drops her shoulders at Peter’s mildly frantic question and turns to Tony, shaking her head in her own mild disbelief. 

“He is..more like you than you are.” 

Tony hears her but doesn't move his eyes from the screen as Julia’s tools are wheeled for her and anesthesia is finally induced. 

“Jet’s ready, boss.”

Pepper turns to the screen again, running her hands through her hair in a desperate motion and releasing a heavy sigh while Peter lifts his hand with a thumbs up and that big put on smile with all his teeth showing. Tony drops his face in his palms with a sigh of his own. 

“_FRIDAY, can you ask Jenna for cheeseburgers if she’s still here?_” The kid’s voice is already groggy as he relaxes against the table.

“_You got it, Peter. Anything else?_”

“_How are my parents?_” His eyes are now closed and Tony sees Julia is ready to get to work. 

“_Mr. Stark is glaring through the screen and Ms. Potts is in quite a state of disbelief at your very Tony Stark behavior._”

“_Can you tell them that I love them and that when I wake up from my nap, I will explain everything?_”

“_I’ll get right on that, Peter. Rest_.”

“_You’re the best, FRI._”

“_That is all you, Peter!_”

“FRIDAY!” Tony snaps, yells in his whisper as Pepper shakes her head and grabs her bag from the couch ready to head out, “focus up, will you? Keep me posted on recovery, you got that?”

Peter’s breathing evens out with a small grin on his lips. Julia asks FRIDAY to cut surveillance.

“_What do you think I'm doing?_” As she answers with her FRIDAY like behavior, Tony’s watch begins to display notification on Peter’s vitals and status. He grabs his jacket and puts on his glasses as he follows Happy out of the common room with Pepper on his right, Rhodey on his left and Vision behind them. 

“What happened, FRIDAY?” Tony asks as he holds his phone in his hand.

Immediately, she gives him an exploded view as Tony syncs it out of the device while stepping inside the Quinjet. 

_ “...6:45pm at Midtown High School. The perpetrators were caught by custodian Nelson Gray, when Spider-Man stepped into the scene before the man was attacked. In the middle of the fight, now graduate Elizabeth Toomes, former captain of the decathlon team, was in close proximity when the explosion went off, Spider-Man shielding her from the wreckage and in turn saving her life.” _

When Liz is interviewed outside of Midtown High, directly behind the broken entrance, Tony’s jaw tightens and Pepper covers her mouth when they show footage of the place in partial wreckage, like the first peel of a banana being broken off, half of the entrance of the school completely destroyed. She still wears her golden graduation gown when she tells the reporter that she was taking pictures with her friends on the stairs when the next thing she knows, Spider-Man was blasted through the front door and was shouting for everyone to get cleared. Liz says she froze at the sight and the vigilante threw himself on her as he grabbed her and managed to get her out of harm's way in time for the explosion to not hit her. 

“_Then, he asked if I was okay and when he saw that I was, he helped me up and ran back inside._”

In silence, they all watch the screen FRIDAY opens once the jet takes off. There is brief mention of Peter Stark being part of the ceremony but his departure is spoken of, apparently immediately after the ceremony ended. That’s good news. No traces back to them if the kid wasn’t around by the time this took place. He listens as the news anchor talks about sophomore Michelle Jones and how she was another student caught in the middle of the fight, found hanging from the broken window by “_what appeared to be Spider-Man’s webbing. The new assigned captain of the decathlon team and member of the drama department appears to be unharmed._”

Tony decides to mute the footage and exhales, surprisingly calmer. In the midst of everything, Peter saved his classmates today. He turns to Pepper, who is anxiously scrolling through her phone now that the video stopped playing. He’s centered. Proud, though anxiety builds either way. He leans forward, hand back against his chest, right on his scar. The kid’s alright. When Pepper points out that she didn't receive any notification on the incident, Tony might have an idea as to why that is. And if he's right, Peter is in for a world of pain. 

  
  


Standing by his monitors in the shop, he watches the Baby Monitor before he goes to the medbay. 

Tony’s not built for this, he's noticed. Give him conniving godfathers, give him poison in his blood, throw at him a think tank that wants to see him burn for all eternity, but Peter being an actual hero? His heart can't handle it. No matter how excellent he is. 

The anger that seeps through him every time he hears Peter tell Karen to not call him or Pepper is renewed. Tony feels the need to go lay down in the middle of his room for 48 hours just to be able to process the desperation for the need to physically jump into the footage and make Peter call for backup. Because there he is, cheeky and avoiding being shot at while saving the janitor. Then, the weapons fire and he’s swinging out front and saves Liz. Then, literally takes one of the three bullets for Michelle. 

He decides to let the entire video play, pointing out every moment his brain short-circuits.

Two guys against him, faces covered and with heavy artillery. It’s messy. Peter dances around, trying to contain and trap their weapons under his webbing and he even gets to pin one of the men down, quickly grabbing the weapon that flies off his hand. Karen instantly recognizes it as alien tech when he looks at it. 

“_Well, that’s cool._” 

Tony sweats, his mouth dries up with his eyes glued to the screen. 

Spider-Man shoots another web to the guy’s mouth and dodges more shots from the other one; the footage, the sound, the colors cause Tony's anxiety to come knocking at his door, louder, demanding its much bigger space back. 

Peter is now on the ceiling, dodging and shooting webs as he calls for different combinations of them, but the machinery cuts through it before he can web the guy up. Right when he shoots another web, the kid stills for a second as if he’s sensing something and that single moment of distraction causes Spider-Man to get caught in an antigravity gun and is being flung up and down. 

“_Not—again—with—this—thing!_”

He sticks his fingertips onto the floor, the swinging coming to a stop. When he turns around, he finds the webbed up guy somehow got loose so Peter manages to jump up to the ceiling, crawling into the corner and shooting the antigravity gun, pinning it to the ground and out of the guy’s hand. He tries to do the same with the owner of it and manages it. All remaining guns and weapons are pointed at him but when they all fail to shoot, the guy standing grunts in frustration and unceremoniously _throws a knife _towards the kid. And Spider-Man being who he is, webs it before it hits him with a snarky remark about the proper use of the weapon. 

Tony thinks this is the moment that the bullet because the the intruders keep shouting to each other, talking about a handgun and to put it to use. And he gets it out, and in that moment, a pair of black and white Chuck Taylors hit the back of the one still standing.

The guy spins around, barely getting out his shout of “_who’s there?!_” before the kid webs him to the ground, only getting the one hand where he holds the gun. The view suddenly turns upside down as Tony realizes it’s because Spider-Man is now crawling on the ceiling like an actual spider again, webbing the shoes into his hand as he drops to the ground and heads to the wall that leads to the next hallway, the view of whomever is there peeking from behind it.

“He’s too caught up on who’s helping him; he needs to go back and deal with these guys first. Civilian is far out and hiding. Dammit, Peter.” Tony runs a hand down his face when he voices his thoughts. 

When the girl comes out of the wall at the sight of Peter, she looks towards the guys, and the kid begins telling her she has to go, talking over her as he walks her back into her hiding spot.

“_MJ, you have to go! Here_,” he says, his panic reserved but Tony recognizing it in an instant. The lightness and fun has left when MJ stands before him. 

He puts the webbed shoes in her hands, the grunts and shouts from the men behind them clear and threatening. 

“_Both doors are locked from the outside and the sirens—they’re coming and you can’t be here either!_” she exclaims in her panic, her voice in a frantic whisper. 

Tony notices the sudden silence but they don’t.

“_I’m fine, please go into that classroom and _stay hidden_. It isn’t sa—_” but before he can finish speaking, in one swift breath, he pulls her against him and leaps with her in his arms, avoiding all three bullets except the one on his leg. 

When he lands on the ground again, MJ is no longer in his line of vision though her frantic _ohmyogod ohmyGOD!_ is distant and short lived. Tony has to rewind the video and slow it down to watch how Peter managed to jump with her in his arms, webbing her and throwing her out of the broken glass window. It’s impressive and he wants to throw up because then the kid is on the ground, groaning from the injury and looking back as the one guy that was able to free himself helps his accomplice out of the webbing.

“_The feds are coming, we gotta go!_”

“_But—!_”

“_Forget it! We gotta go!_”

Karen cites his injuries when he stands but they shoot again and Peter has to duck, hissing in pain when he does and telling Karen to not call Tony or Pepper when she recommends it. He webs his leg instead. 

They make a run for it as Peter begins to stand and then he has to run too because the red dot that locks on his shoulder forces him to, jumping out of the same opening where MJ is hanging. They were all calling for Spider-Man to stand down. The criminals got away because they were trying to shoot the kid instead. 

Peter doesn’t follow Karen’s advice. Instead, after telling her to please have FRIDAY ask the doctors to have the medbay ready, he mutes her. By the end of the video, Tony’s gripping onto his hair with his mouth wide open. He’s going to have an embolism. 

  
  


After learning one of the men was killed for lack of cooperation and retaliation to a request of surrender, and the other one escaped with no release or statement about who they were or what took place, Tony makes the mistake of answering Ross’ call. He thought maybe Ross could disclose names, help in completing the puzzle he has no idea Tony is building. But Ross, ever so helpful, has his own needs for Spider-Man to be brought in. 

A minute into the call, Tony resigns with screens opened everywhere with details of the incident. Three minutes in, he has his head down while listening to Ross and giving him yes or no answers, with the occasional _I don't know, maybe_. Four, they are suddenly talking about the Rogues, as he calls them. Half way through that transition though, Pepper’s hands go on his shoulders and he lifts his head at the touch, turns around to face her and then drops his head back against her stomach, eyes closed. Planting a kiss to his forehead, she quietly tells him Peter is awake. 

“If I see any suspicious activity, I have you on speed-dial. Gotta go.” With that, he ends the call and drops a kiss to her stomach.

She doesn’t say anything, her hands resting on his shoulders. 

“Peter has too much free range with his suit. I’m disabling his option to call either one of us or not.”

“Okay.”

At the sound of her response, he slowly lifts his head and looks up at her. 

“‘Okay?’ You don’t think I should trust him to call in situations like these?”

A small shrug and a pause as she seems to be looking for her answer. 

“You did. Besides, it is different. That was part of the deal with this. He has to ask for help.”

She’s right. He turns his head and fixes his eyes on Peter’s work station. Must he be such a..

“Hero?”

“You know, I told him. I said that I could give him access to his trustfund in full if he stopped doing things like this,” Tony starts, “because I _know_ he's getting paid to get me all riled up.”

Pepper smirks down at him, running her hand through his hair. “Looks like he turned down the offer.”

He groans, quietly and gently dropping his forehead on her stomach again, intimately speaking, just him and the baby, “you’re going to be so good to us, right little one? It’s going to be good, clean fun with you, am I right?”

  
  


Peter is sitting up with his pillow behind him and eating a burger while Rhodey pours water onto his glass. The kid smiles, close lipped and cheeks full of food at Rhodey as he sets his cup down on his tray. Vision pats Peter’s back as he commends him for his bravery. 

“That’s not gonna be enough to get him out of this one, Vision,” Happy mumbles and Tony confirms it when he fully enters the room. 

“Happy knows his audience.”

Peter stops chewing his food and stares at him, Pepper by his side. They both make their way to stand at his bedside and all Peter manages is his nervous stare at them while slowly swallowing his bite. 

“Heeeeyy guys…” he weakly greets. 

“Could you give us a minute, please?”

“W-why do they have to leave?” Peter sets his half eaten burger down and looks around the room, “why can’t we talk with the rest of the family in the room? You know, the rest of the witnesses?”

Tony crosses his arms against his chest and raises his eyebrow at Peter. The kid desperately shoots a look at Rhodey but all he does is move over to him and ruffles his hair with a small smirk. 

“If you start screaming, I’ll come right in.”

Peter, for all intents and purposes, screams, short and sweet while his eyes remain on Rhodey; he makes Tony and Pepper jump at the sound and Tony drops his face on his palm in his exasperation. Rhodey’s laughter is all that’s reciprocated as he pats Tony’s shoulder on his way out. 

“Happy, w-where ya going? Pepper—Pepper is here. You have to—don’t you have to stay?”

“I think we’re okay.”

Peter groans and drops his head back against his pillow. Happy comes and approaches him, telling him he’s glad he’s okay. 

“It’ll be fine. Don’t sweat it.”

“Nice knowing you, Happy. Thanks for everything. You too, Vision. I’ll miss you the most. Stay longer, please.”

“For crying out loud, Peter,” Tony says, rolling his eyes and dropping his forehead into his palm again. 

“It won’t be that bad. You have my word,” Vision promises with a small headnod towards the kid.

“You think if I stay still long enough, I’ll be able to disappear?”

“I don’t think that’s how that works, but I say give it a shot either way.”

The hint of a smile from Vision helps Tony in ways he doesn’t want to acknowledge. His heart warms at the brief interaction, that much he can address. 

“Thanks, Vis,” Peter sighs as he sinks into the bed and crosses his arms against his chest with his eyes to the sheet. “And then, there were three,” he mutters a moment after Vision steps out. 

Tony doesn’t say anything as he exhales a breath and watches as Pepper sits by the foot of the bed and gives Peter’s good leg a gentle squeeze. At the touch, Peter’s shoulders slowly come down though his eyes don’t change directions. What else can he do but let his anger slowly fade as his gratitude for Peter’s well being begins to empower him instead. 

“How're you feeling?”

Peter doesn’t look up as he gives Pepper’s question a small shrug and a quiet, “I’m fine.” 

Tony stands closer without a word, and then Peter looks up at him with his big brown eyes, strong and hesitant all at once. The longer he stares, the more Tony wishes Peter was five again where his biggest injuries were from the jungle gym. All hostility and harshness he thought he was going to lay on the kid vaporizes into thin air and he settles for a small shake of his head with a brief pat on the kid’s cheek. 

Peter looks at Pepper then and looks down as he plays with the hem of the sheet covering waist down. 

“Do you know why they were there?”

“No.” 

“Do you think they were there for Spider-Man? That they know that’s where he goes to school?”

The kid shakes his head. Tony exhales and remains silent for a moment.

“Everyone is safe,” Peter quietly supplies, “if they show up again, I won't let them get away.”

“The duo is down to one.”

Peter’s head snaps up and Tony nods in confirmation to the kid’s silent question. He drops his head back with his eyes to the ceiling and a very quiet, “that _ sucks. _ Poor dude.”

The headache that Tony feels arriving at the sound of the kid’s words is certainly inevitable. He decides to ignore it, because Peter’s first going to listen to Pepper. Yeah, Tony’s got it. Pepper, then him and then the two of them together. Right now, he feels it coming. They’re about to embark on that broken record and frankly, Tony is tired of the song. He’s just glad the kid is okay so with the firm grasp on Peter’s livelihood no longer in imminent danger, he moves in and embraces him, pressing his lips to the top of his head. Peter’s arms don’t hesitate a moment before they’re around Tony, tight and full. Always so full. 

“You know what’s coming, right?” 

At Tony’s question, Peter relents his hold enough to look up, Tony pushing back his hair as Peter’s eyebrows come together in mild confusion. 

“Yeah, Spider-Man. I saw the footage. Saw you telling Karen to not call me. I’ll adjust that.”

“But—”

“You know the speech, you know the rules.” Tony kisses his forehead and lets go of him. When he does, he turns to Pepper and with ease presses his lips together with a raise of his eyebrows. Hands now inside the front pocket of his slacks, he says to her, “you take this round. I gotta fix a few things with Karen.”

Pepper nods as she stands and moves her hair to the side. Tony turns to Peter as she sits down on the seat on the right.

“Good luck, kid.”

His eyes widen at the sound of Tony’s voice. “Wait. Dad, no, wait.”

“I’ll be right outside if you need me. FRIDAY?” He begins heading toward the exit when he speaks. 

“_Yes, boss?_”

“Whatever Ms. Potts says, goes.”

“_You got it._”

  
  


Vision says his goodbyes and Happy heads back to work. Leaving Peter with Pepper, Rhodey accompanies Tony to the shop, where he begins to adjust Karen's settings to always alert Tony, always call. Always notify when there is a certain level of threat. He understands Peter is a solo act, and he wants to prove that he can handle it but if the moment comes, Tony is helping him conquer whatever it is that needs Tony’s presence in the matter. 

Rhodey, standing with his arms against his chest is watching the Baby Monitor footage on the screen as Tony finishes up.

“Who’s that?”

He looks up from where he’s working and to the screen, looking back down as he double checks his phone, his watch and Pepper's devices are synched in properly.

“Oh, that’s MJ.”

“Ah, shoes.”

“Correct,” Tony says as he turns around on his seat to face the screens Rhodey continues to watch. 

He has to look away when the view suddenly drops, indicating the kid is down. Rhodey stops it there and turns around to face Tony. With a shrug of his shoulders, he stands from his seat and crosses Rhodey toward Peter’s desk. 

“I didn’t forget about what you have to tell me.”

“I know. More pressing matters.”

“Like Peter getting shot,” Tony points out. It sounds pretty terrible when he says it out loud. This getting past it is so unpredictable. He’s exhausted. 

“It comes with the territory.” 

Tony sits on Peter’s stool and turns his head towards Rhodey who is still looking at him. Tony says nothing because _it comes with territory_. At the end of the day, he can trust the kid to handle it. It’s the coming out alive that always regresses his Spider-Man acceptance progress. 

“My kid, Jim, has had training incase he’s kidnapped, knows the panic rooms, is aware of what to do and how to manipulate attackers long enough until we get there. _ This _ is the last thing I was expecting.”

Rhodey takes a step toward him with his voice calm and grounding, telling Tony to make sure that Peter feels safe to call. To remind the kid that asking for help doesn't make him less of a hero. To put into perspective that Tony himself isn’t a solo act either. “Not anymore.”

Tony stares, tired. Physically and mentally exhausted all of a sudden. He’s been so tired these past few days, even when he gets enough sleep. 

“Train with the simulators.”

“Oh, I’m gonna. There’s gonna be a specific one just for him.”

“Good,” Rhodey says. 

Tony turns to face Peter’s desk, fixating on the framed picture the kid tapped down against the corner of his desktop. It’s the same one he gave Tony a few days ago, everyone gathered around him that one breakfast during the birthday week celebration. 

“Maybe interchange it with Natasha's training,” he mutters, thinking outloud. 

It burns him thinking about her, noticing how he misses her. All of them. 

“Boss, Ned Leeds and Michelle Jones are requesting access to the penthouse,” FRIDAY says, interrupting his thoughts.

Standing with no real urgency, he begins to walk out of the shop with Rhodey patting him on the back. 

“Send ‘em up.”

  
  


The F.O.S—as Ned refers to him and MJ being part of Peter’s secret—sits across from where Tony is standing by the peninsula. Rhodey is on the phone while Tony sets the water bottles before them. Pepper and Peter are still talking 15 minutes later and while the F.O.S. fully understands that by the time Pepper is done there will be a fat chance that no friends will be allowed at all for a period of time, they decide to take their chances and wait for the verdict on the matter. 

They thank Tony for the refreshments and awkwardly wait for Rhodey to be back into the kitchen. 

“You guys alright? Your parents know where you are? Ned?”

“Yes. Dad said to text him when I was with you, by the way.”

“Ned,” Tony breathes out, taking his phone out with a shake of his head and informing Sr. of Ned’s arrival. “You’ve been here for at least ten minutes already, kid. You can’t..” He doesn't even finish the sentence. Just sets his phone back in his pocket once he’s done. 

MJ remains silent with her hands around her water bottle. She taps her fingers against it, a lot calmer than she was when she met Tony a few minutes ago. When she first saw him, she had asked if Peter was alright, asked if she could see him, so he provided the information she was looking for to ease her worries. Ned was visibly relieved, glad they came because Peter wasn't answering his phone when they tried to contact him. 

“Everything alright?” Tony asks when Rhodey steps back in the kitchen.

“Yeah,” he says, standing next to Tony and turning to the kids before him. “Pepper’s still in there, huh.”

Tony walks over to the fridge when Rhodey begins to engage in conversation with Ned and grabs a bottle for himself, quietly leaning against the sink with his feet crossed at his ankle and sipping his water. He wonders how Pepper is doing, what she’s saying to Peter that the kid hasn’t heard yet. He’s looking forward to seeing what happens after this. 

Rhodey finds MJ’s button and gets her to speak a lot more than the few words that she shared with Tony. He listens to them, mostly Ned, about the system they have when Spider-Man is on duty, how they watch out for him and how MJ shuts down all the fun plans they have. 

“Not fun. Say the word, Ned.”

Ned narrows his eyes at her, MJ mirroring his gesture.

“She says we need to use our brains a little more when it comes to the _ fun _side of the job,” Ned says with an air of dismissal, and going right into defending why she might be overreacting. 

Maybe it’s not such a great idea that part of the punishment is time apart from F.O.S. It’s a pretty good balance from what Tony hears and sees, something that spider mayhem needs and more importantly, accepts help from.

“Uh, FRIDAY, tell Ms. Potts I need to speak with her before she assigns punishment, please,” Tony says walking over to the peninsula to stand in front of the kid. Everyone's focused on him then. MJ meets his eyes; she doesn’t flinch. 

“Mr. Stark, you’re gonna punish him? He saved everyone from those guys.”

“I know he did, Ned, but shutting down his A.I when he should’ve called for backup is punishable by _ death._ Literally. I’m not dealing with that, you understand? I get that Peter is a one man show but when helping the old ladies cross the street turns into a gunfight and Peter refuses to utilize his full arsenal, I have to take precautions.”

“So..you’re gonna punish him because he refused to kill those guys?”

Tony sets his water bottle on the counter, Rhodey turning to him as he waits for a response too. MJ doesn’t seem intimidated by Tony’s presence, it seems to have no effect on her being in the same room as him. That’s rare. it briefly reminds him of Pepper when she first got hired.

“That’s Peter’s call,” he says as he crosses his arms against his chest, staring right at her as she continues to do the same, “but when he gets shot and can’t move to his full capacity while refusing to call me for help, yeah. I say he’s due for a little reminder that he’s not allowed to _ die _ on my watch.”

She continues to stare, briefly turning to Ned and exchanging a quick glance between each other before they lower their gaze. Before Tony can say anything else on the matter, Ned begins to speak. 

“Mr. Stark—” But FRIDAY interrupts him when she announces that Pepper is ready for him to return to the room. 

“Is he allowed visitors?”

A moment. And then FRIDAY returns with good news for the F.O.S. 

Rhodey offers to walk them over and a moment before MJ stands, she continues to look at Tony. He can see she's less guarded.

“Knock knock,” Tony says as he enters the medbay, Peter sitting up while Ned and MJ sit on the chairs to the right of him, “cars are ready for you guys. Pepper wants to talk to you before you go, Ned, and your mother has called twice. That’s the limit. I’m kicking you out. So, hustle up.”

“It’s the weekend though,” he says, dejected as he begins to stand, checking his phone. “No school either.” 

Tony raises his hands in resignation. “Hey, her house, her rules.”

“Mr. Stark, I thought we were cool,” Ned whispers in his feigned shock as he straps his bag over his shoulder. He drops his jaw and looks at Peter who has a hint of a smile, though he shakes his head in distaste. 

“Listen up, _ you two, _ let’s get a move on.” 

“It’s a parent thing,” Peter sighs out when Ned and him say goodbye with their handshake. MJ stands too, silent.

“They’ll always stick together,” Ned concludes as he begins to step away. “See you..?”

“I honestly don’t know.” Peter looks at Tony in question.

“What did Pepper say?”

“That she’ll talk to you?” 

“Huh,” Tony breathes out. “We’ll see. No phone until I speak to Pepper.”

Peter tells Tony that he wrecked it during the commotion, so that has to be remedied as well and right in that moment, Pepper stands at the door, asking to speak to Ned and Tony alone for a moment. 

“Am I in trouble?” Ned pales when he asks and Pepper hurries to assure him it’s nothing of the sort.

Clutching his chest in relief, he turns to Peter with a “later, dude. Bye, MJ,” as he exits.

Pepper tells Tony she'll be waiting for him and assures MJ that he will be right back to take her to Ryan. With a comforting smile towards her, Pepper then turns and gives him a headnod towards the exit. She, then steps out. 

“Thanks for stopping by, Michelle,” Tony says as he turns to her, hands in his pockets. 

“Oh. Uh, you can call me MJ, sir.” She is still standing when she speaks.

Tony looks at her, then looks at Peter, who looks at her too and then back at him. Tony fixes his eyes on her again and responds with a nonchalant, “MJ. Thanks for coming to see this contraption. If you know anyone who’s looking to adopt, please. Help me.”

Peter throws his pillow at Tony’s face, who doesn’t react to it and shrugs as he picks it up and takes it with him. Peter’s call for him to give it back between his chuckles makes Tony thaw out a bit more from the scare earlier. 

“For goodness sake. Did you even _talk_ to Ned? Was he in on the lie of this conversation?”

“He wanted to apologize for throwing her out the window! And _yes_, of course. I spoke to him about Peter's birthday.”

Tony rolls his eyes along with his head in a groan. 

  
  


While MJ and Peter get their ten minutes of privacy—someone, please, come take Tony out of his misery—they go over the next step so that Peter doesn’t dismiss the need to call if he needs help. 

“What are you thinking, Pep?”

Pepper leans against the counter by the sink, hands behind her as she stares at Tony for a moment before she speaks. 

“More than anything, Peter wants us to believe he can do this.”

“We know he can,” he immediately responds with, “_I _ know he can. That’s the problem. That he can.” He notices how she slumps just a bit when he speaks. “That doesn’t mean he doesn’t ask for help when he needs it. It’s not that hard.”

“He wants to be part of the team, has he told you that?”

Tony stands straight, his jaw tightening with a chill down his back. 

“Yeah, he says that he wants to be useful when the big things happen. He doesn’t plan on staying close to ground forever, not when you can use his abilities too. Says he won't leave you short on men,” she continues on.

It's too much. It's all too much.

“He was doing what he was supposed to do, according to him,” Rhodey adds from where he stands. Tony looks at him for a moment.

“_No_,” he says to Pepper, slow and hard and then he turns back to Rhodey. “It isn’t about Spider-Man not doing the right thing, it’s Spider-Man not asking for help. He can’t be too proud to call for help if it means he’ll bleed to death. How hard is that to understand? What, his webbing will hold him off until he makes it to the tower? No. _ No. _ That wasn’t what we discussed.” He’s getting agitated because it almost sounds like they’re okay with the way Peter handled this situation. He's also not even going to address the whole joining the team bit. He'll collapse on the spot.

“Tony—”

“He’s lucky I even let him go out in the first place! It’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man or nothing. That’s it. No.”

Pepper looks at him, the sympathy and resignation all over her face at the thought of Peter in the middle of the world threats. She looks so sorry. It makes Tony choke.

“If he doesn’t ask for help, then I’ll end it. Simple.” He speaks with effort because what in the hell is going on? His throat dries and his heart races again. Everything feels upside down. 

“He gets it. He needed a bit of perspective.”

“What’d you tell him?” Tony asks.

She stays silent for a moment and then with a faint hint of a smile, she says, “I told him about a guy we both knew long ago and how _ he _ made _ us _ feel when he went about things, how we longed for him to ask for help when he needed it.” 

No one speaks when she finishes. Tony shuts his eyes and holds the bridge of his nose and suddenly Rhodey’s hand is patting his shoulder with a “welcome.”

There is nothing to do but glare at the colonel who stares back with mirth in his eyes. He's grateful for this switch up at least. 

“Peter gets it, Tony. He’ll call if he needs help.” 

Tony turns back to her when she speaks. 

She carries on. “This weekend there will be no phone, no friends. His A.I—”

“Taken care of,” Tony says. When Pepper nods, he continues, “a full 36 hour recovery period. He can be back in Queens Sunday _ night_.” 

“It’s settled. I’ll tell MJ that Mark’s ready for her,” she says, walking over to Tony and giving his hand a gentle squeeze in passing. 

A pause and then Rhodey casually says, “I like MJ.”

Pepper looks over her shoulder back at Rhodey before she disappears towards the medbay and raises her eyebrows, biting her bottom lip to hide the big grin that spreads across her face. 

Tony turns his eyes to the ceiling and pleads, “take me now.”

Rhodey lets out a small laugh and pats his back in passing as he heads to the fridge. 

  
  


“There were some military experiments Connors, Baxter and Mary were asked to be part of. She was the lead scientist in developing what they needed but she took the money and ran, taking the research with her.”

Tony slouches on his seat with his mind racing, DUM-E and Butterfingers trying to tidy up the mess they made when they dropped Tony’s toolbox. Rhodey stands against Tony’s worktable, facing him with his arms crossed agaisnt his chest and his feet crossed at his ankles.

He looks up at Rhodey, unconvinced because it doesn’t make sense. There are pieces missing. Big pieces missing. 

“I don't know, Tony. What if it’s true? What if she took the money and betrayed Oscorp?”

He sits up on his swivel chair, his eyes straight ahead with his palms pressed together and against his mouth. He doesn't get it. The spider DNA was _her_ project. If she was the bad guy, why hasn’t Oscorp made sure that information made it out? Connors never even acknowledged working with her after she went under ground. Then, again he died shortly after.

Why is May’s name on file? Are they still looking for her? He runs a hand down his face. 

“They don’t necessarily want the world knowing they’re funding military experiments, now do they? Not the ones with the words ‘human experimentation’ on the stamp. Look,” Rhodey says, standing up straight and taking a step towards Tony, “I have some other sources in the works but one thing is sure; they know Mary’s kid isn’t dead and they’re betting all their coins that the kid is Spider-Man.”

In Peter's bedroom, Rhodey says goodbye and warns him on behaving or he’s going to come in and set things right. 

“Yes, sir,” Peter says with a hand salute and sitting up on his bed. 

Rhodey holds his expression, hard until he cracks a smile and says, “at ease, Spider-Man.” He leans forward to do his handshake with Peter and says goodbye to Pepper, who sits at the foot of Peter’s bed. 

Tony walks Rhodey to the elevator, listening to Pepper’s distant voice about the shots Peter has on display by his desk. Tony knows the ones. They're truly something. 

At the elevator, Rhodey presses the button and turns to Tony. 

“You thought of a name for the baby yet?”

“Peter says James Peter Stark for a girl's the way to go.”

Rhodey smiles. “Kid’s got taste. He’s got my vote. And for a boy?”

“Peter Jr.,” Tony answers, a smirk on his lips as he rolls his eyes. 

Rhodey nods in approval as the elevator doors open. “Like I said, kid’s got taste.”

“You’re the one that’s got his head all big,” Tony points out as Rhodey steps inside the elevator. With a shrug, he tells Tony he learned it from his best friend. 

“I hate you.”

Rhodey laughs as the elevator doors close. 

When Tony returns to Peter’s room, he finds him with his head on Pepper’s lap as she sits against the headboard on the right side of the bed. He’s in basketball shorts and a sweater because the kid is always cold. The bandages on the leg will be changed tomorrow and Tony knows that the healing will do its magic when he rests tonight. Nothing a good night sleep won’t finish off. 

“Yeah, Tiny Human. We have good parents. Even if they’re a little extreme in the punishments sometimes.”

“Your brother exaggerates, little miss,” Tony comments as he moves over to the bed. He grabs a pillow and settles next to Peter on Pepper’s lap as the kid makes room for him. 

Peter lifts his head with a questioning look to Tony. Unphased by the spiderboy's looks, he shuts his eyes when he hears Pepper’s amused, “oy.”

“You keep saying 'little miss.'”

“We don’t know _ anything_. Tony thinks he can speak this one into existence.”

“You don’t know that I can’t, Ms. Potts.”

Tony can practically feel Pepper’s eye roll as Peter settles back down next to him. 

“Would you want a girl, Pepper?” the kid asks, “a little redhead, brown eyed genius. Wouldn’t that be cool? I can have a little sister that I could protect and be really annoying to the older she gets. We can be really close and drive Iron Man crazy. Oh, please have a girl, Pepper.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works, Peter,” she says, sounding just as amused. Tony soaks up the image Peter paints. The butterflies in his stomach flutter at the thought. 

It's nice, the feeling. He welcomes it. 

“Dad might be onto something here,” the kid supplies, “I’m joining the campaign.”

“So what if we have a boy?! What are you guys going to do then?!”

Tony shrugs, inhaling a calming breath with his eyes closed. “It’ll be really fun too.”

“Yeah, Pepper. We just want the kiddies here now!”

“I’m with you on that,” Tony says. 

“Patience, boys. Patience.”

Peter sighs, Tony sinks against the moment when he feels Pepper’s hand run through his hair for a bit and the kid begins to speak. 

“So, Tiny Human. Yes. I’m Peter. Your best friend. Forever. You and I are a team. No matter who you turn out to be. Don’t kick if you agree.”

Tony looks up at Pepper then, exchanging a smile between each other while Peter’s eyes remain on the cloudless ceiling. He asks Pepper if she feels anything and when she answers, Peter says, “excellent. We’re in business. I’m glad you’re on board, Tiny.”

  
  
  


That night, Peter tells them about Liz’s phone call, about making amends and leaving things on a good note. He tells them that she didn’t mean to hurt him, that she has nothing against Tony, not really, and that she doesn’t care about her father’s long hatred for him. That she wanted to be friends. He tells them how he hopes that’s possible but knows it’s a long shot because when he met Liz’s dad during the picture booth for graduation, he didn't seem to keen on Peter showing up to Liz's for her Game night. Superhearing for the win.

Peter says he’ll leave it to time to see what happens between them. Tony couldn’t agree more on that decision. 

**To Be Continued..**

  
  


There was a little redhead boy with brown eyes and the energy of Peter times ten in the dream he wakes from at 4:39am from a message from Rhodey. They were playing in the water of the lake at the cabin, Peter kept calling him Morgan, and Pepper laughed with her hair cascading down her back as she sat on the edge of the bridge, her feet gently swinging back and forth. Tony watched from afar, in a sort of trance at the sight before him. Peter and Morgan laughed. And played. And soaked up the sun under a cloudless blue sky.

What he would give to go back to it.

He is now sitting in the shop with his friend on the phone, anxious and ready to figure out if they have found the missing pieces to put this Oscorp puzzle back in its box and hopefully away from them. It’s a nice sentiment. So he nurses his cup of coffee and prohibits any access into his work space. With connections and calling in favors, Rhodey finds things Tony couldn’t have done on his own without raising suspicion and having it all lead back to Peter. 

“Baxter knows May because he helped Mary with the name change. Richard and Ben Parker were killed on the same day. Car accident. A hit.”

“So, Richard didn’t die during a mission.”

“It gets worse. Mary did betray Oscorp, Tony. She ran off with the research and the money offered to fund it. Before she disappeared, Connors was found dead at his desk, the spider serum in his blood. It killed him. I have his autopsy report in my hand right now. The prints on the syringe were Mary’s.”

It still doesn’t make any _sense_. 

“By the looks of it, Baxter wanted back in the project. He was fired for his radical ideas and his instability. His medical records show a few underlying health issues.”

There it is. When he hears Rhodey list them, his terminal illness diagnosed a few months ago, he knows why he wanted back in. He thought the spider DNA would reverse it. All of it.

“He was onto something,” Tony murmurs, scratching the back of his neck. Maybe _his_ death was an accident. Nothing else has led him to believe otherwise either way. Maybe Oscorp had nothing to do with it.

Maybe.

“Right, but the only working sample is swinging around Queens so my guess is he was trying to convince May into connecting with Peter to get to the kid and-”

“Dammit.”

“Oscorp and Baxter want the same thing but they weren’t working together. I also have one of my guys looking into Mary’s medical records when she was in the hospital. You said she died during labor?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll double check that.”

“Thanks, Jim,” he mumbles, sitting back against his chair with his head split in two. He can't tell Peter any of this.

Baxter was desperate for second chances, Mary was a traitor, Oscorp wants its research back and Peter is still in danger.

“Now, here’s the other thing. Spider-Man’s appearance has put Midtown High on the radar as the number one place for them to consider their search for him.”

The panic is starting to rise from his stomach, to his chest and now forming a lump in his throat and then crashing right back down to his heart. It is beating so fast he’s afraid Peter might be able hear it. Shutting his eyes and not jumping off the deep end just yet, he focuses on Rhodey’s voice, and sits up, listening. 

“They’ve followed up with everyone that visited the tower at the time, when they realized the spider project had been messed with and inventory was missing. They’re down to visitations and Midtown High’s next.”

“_Rhodey_.” Tony hides his face behind his palms and speaks through them, muffled and glad he is able to hide his rising panic for a moment. 

“All they did was create badges for the kids that were already on the list. It doesn’t look like they ran much background on the names and people attending that day.”

Tony opens his eyes and decides to override his new found morale. With a single command and very few specific swift moves of his fingers on the screen he opens before him from his desktop, the program he upgraded after he was able to break into Oscorp‘s files on Mary, begins to run. 

“FRIDAY, follow up Rhodey’s finds.”

Tony’s eyes travel all over the screen, headshots and information accompanying them skipping through while Rhodey keeps feeding Tony information he’s already looking up himself. He’s right. Poor security measures were taken, which is really unlike Tony’s luck to have Oscorp drop the ball simply because they’re high school students. According to Rhodey’s assumptions on the reason behind it. 

“Maybe but Peter goes to Midtown High. Ned, Peter's best friend, _ attends _ Midtown. MJ recovered files from there.”

“MJ wasn’t on the trip that day. She started after the field trip. The trip was only available for the upperclassmen. Ned and Peter were Sophomores at the time.”

Tony cannot remember if Ned went to the trip. 

“FRIDAY, call Peter.”

“_Calling Itsy Bitsy Stark_.”

Tony types, and confirms Rhodey’s words when he breaks into Midtown’s security walls next, making a note to offer better security to the school. Stark Tech security. 

“Peter’s name is nowhere on the list. Neither is Ned’s.”

“Peter Gonzalez.”

“Nope. There is a Karen J. Edwin, though.”

Peter answers lost in sleep, mumbling about the time and the nerve of some people. 

“Kid, who’s Karen J. Edwin?”

Peter stays silent on the other line, Rhodey seems to be listening in as Tony searches and finds no one by that name. Anywhere. 

“Pete, wake up. Karen J. Edwin. Who is that?”

“I made it up when I went to Oscorp,” he says this in between a yawn and when he speaks next, he’s a lot more awake. “Why? What did you find?” 

“Karen J. Edwin, kid? That’s you?”

“Peter G was a dead give away and after I had decided I was gonna sneak around in there, I hadda improvise. What’s going on? What’d you find? Should I be—I’m coming. You’re in the lab?”

“You stay up there, you evil genius,” Tony says, proud and anxious now. “When I have all of this together, I’ll explain. Stay up there, you hear me?”

Peter remains silent. 

“Peter, juvie. I’ll do it.”

“Fine, fine.”

“One more thing. Trip wasn’t for your class?”

“Senior class science scholars. Ms. Hutton wanted me to go. I was top of my class at the time.”

“Christmas is early this year. End call.”

He leaves Peter mid sentence and tells FRIDAY to text him to remind him to stay up there. 

“Yeah. So, he’s okay. The security cameras have nothing on the restricted areas either. Peter knew where to look and how to go about things.”

Tony doesn’t have a clue on how to feel about this. Not even a little bit. He drops his forehead on his desk with a heavy sigh of what he’s sure is temporary relief. 

“He’s okay,” Rhodey repeats. 

He answers back with a groan, his heart not slowing fast enough.

_  
The field is filled with white daisies, a big beautiful and peaceful landscape. Peter is laying on his back on the grass with a little redhead boy next to him. He’s showing him the big white clouds in the sky while Pepper sits behind them, with her eyes to the sky too and soaking up the sun, a smile like a contented cat on her lips while she listens to Peter describe the shape of the clouds to the giggling little boy. _

_ “Morgan, what about that one? What do you see?” _

_ Morgan stands and starts to jump with his hands high above his head, excitedly answering, “white clouds!” _

_ “That..is correct!” Peter says just as excited and Morgan’s laughter is bright and full of freedom when Peter begins to tickle him. _

_ Tony can’t take his eyes off them, in fascination; when Pepper looks his way, her smile grows and then in the blink of an eye, everything is on fire and Peter grabs Morgan and begins to run. Only when Tony reaches for Pepper’s hand does he notice he’s running with her, and then, everyone is on flames and Tony is too late. _

_ No warning. No remorse. Tony sees fire. _

“_Boss, wake up!_”

_ Fire. _

“_Boss_!”

Tony’s out of breath when he startles awake, sitting up and scanning the room. There’s no fire. There’s no Peter. No Pepper or..._Morgan _ either. Just DUM-E, hovering with what Tony can only describe as concern, and the finishing touches of the Iron Spider suit completed. He must’ve fallen while working on it, right after his phone call with Rhodey. 

“_Boss—_”

“I’m awake, thanks FRIDAY,” he groans out as he stands from the seat and feels the complaints his back is going to give him for the rest of the week for falling asleep atop the table. 

“_Good, because Lilah Reilly is requesting access to the penthouse_.”

“What?”

“_She says she’s here to see Peter._” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen, Tom Odell has my life with that song they danced to in Peter's room. It's called Storms and I just love-et.
> 
> Thank you so, so much for reading this story that literally grew wings and it is now one of the biggest things I've ever done for fandom. It is my first multi chapter fanfic and there were moments when I was editing these chapters and wanted to abandon ship because who likes their writing all the time?  
Apparently, you guys do and that helped TREMENDOUSLY. Believe you me. 
> 
> So, really. I can't believe you've stuck with this. Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you! Thank you for you patience and your comments and for returning after every update! 
> 
> And again A BIG THANK YOU TO @JUICHE ON TUMBLR FOR THE FANART. WHAT A GENIUS. WHAT A GEM. 
> 
> Be on the lookout for part two, it will be posted soon!  
Stay safe & be well. 
> 
> Go be happy!


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